


Cold Beginnings

by Angelgod187



Series: The Davis Investigation (Part 2) [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: A burn so long, Canon-Typical Violence, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Continuation of Part 1, Emotions, F/M, Gavin Reed is a Little Shit, Gavin and Nines aren't together, Gavin is with both original male and female characters, Hank Anderson and Connor Live Together, M/M, Past Character Death, Past Rape/Non-con, RK900 has forced upgrades, RK900 is really going through it emotionally, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has An Anxiety Disorder, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Penis, but what's new?, investigative fic, it won't be resolved in this story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:28:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 36,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26489449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelgod187/pseuds/Angelgod187
Summary: (Continuation of The Davis Investigation (Part 1))Nines wakes to a world six months older. A world that wrote him off as dead and moved on. He is left to reclaim himself and what that means with upgrades he never asked for or wanted.Gavin has moved past the horrific ordeal when he gets a text from Connor.
Relationships: Gavin Reed & Original Female Character(s), Hank Anderson & Connor, Upgraded Connor | RK900 & Original Male Character(s), Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: The Davis Investigation (Part 2) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925764
Comments: 55
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> If you haven't read the past series of stories, 1) please, please heed the tags 2) you might be a little lost as to what is going on. You could probably piece together what happened but if not, here is a link to [ The Davis Investigation (Part 1)](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790206).
> 
> For those returning, thank you for your patience! I don't post anything till the whole thing is basically done. None of this would be possible without my AMAZING support and beta reader, [WickedWon!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedWon/pseuds/WickedWon) Please go check out her work! 
> 
> Now, to the brief start to jog some memories!

_Gavin watched through tears as the empty casket was lowered into the ground. Connor, dressed head to toe in black, walked across the lush green grass, holding the triangle of a flag in his arms. He formally handed it to Gavin, pulling him into a hug, a tear of his own shining in the bright morning sun._

_“I’ll do everything in my power to get him back,” he promised._

_Gavin didn’t want to hear that, as the machine stopped the casket. The man he loved was now gone, ‘buried’ with full honors. A husk of his lover was left and never did Gavin want to see it again in his life._

_Gavin labored through the rest of the service, refusing to leave when Hank tried to coax him to the wake. Everyone gave their whispered condolences, no one knowing what either of them had gone through beyond what the media was spinning up and perverting for views and clicks._

_He’d stayed around till the grounds keeper came and moved all the dirt back to fill the hole. He gave Gavin a bow of respect and left. Gavin cleaned the stone he’d paid for with some of the savings Connor had handed over to him as Nines’ estate was being handled._

Gavin woke slowly. Five months into recovery and still he dreamed of the whole thing. He took a deep breath, getting up from the sweat blob he’d left in the bed. He meandered around the apartment, ending mindlessly before the same flag encased in a wood and glass frame. He lovingly touched the side of the wood. Too strong to cry, too weak to leave. He stayed in their apartment as a slow burning acid, a reminder of what once was.

Three weeks later, the lie of a partner revived was texted to him by Connor after he’d run out of the bull pin like he’d been set on fire. Gavin’s insomnia came back like a bad cough, thoughts refusing to let him sleep longer than an hour at a time. He refused to think that the machine was gone, only morphed. The man he loved was proverbially six feet under, a press of a button deleted him from this earth. 

How cruel to think that death could be overturned just as quickly, there was no way. It was a different person, even if Connor wanted to believe it was Nines, it couldn’t be. People didn’t just come back after six months. It was a walking lie. Gavin wouldn’t be fooled. His heart couldn’t take it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines needs to get the upgrades out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And of course, when I first post I have to do two chapters in a row. 
> 
> My schedule before of once a day will fill out to about once a week now. I have other projects that need my attention so I need to make this last till I can get back around to writing Part 3.
> 
> Now, how about we really kick this off with Nines, hmm?

“Welcome, Nines,” Markus called from his office door. Nines’ head shot up, and faster yet to his feet. He had no power over the ten percent spike in his cortisol and twenty in adrenaline, the rise kicking in the perspiration of his hands.

“Hello.”

“Please, come in,” Markus waved an offer to his office. Nines took the leader of his species up on the kind gesture, finding his way into one of the two empty chairs sitting in front of the grand mahogany desk. Markus cleared a few papers and sat down properly, fingers stippled together. “Your message sounded urgent? How can New Jericho help?” 

“I need you to take everything the engineers added to me, out,” Nines said, no need to beat around the proverbial bush.

Markus wasn’t surprised by the demand. “I assumed that you coming here would be about The Reformers Cult. Let me call in the others. Josh has better medical knowledge than any of us.”

It was a long five minutes, Nines unable to keep his fingers from tapping on the arm of the chair. It was little things like that, the lack of control the new systems implemented, he hated most. He’d only been back two days, and his skin wasn’t his own. He didn’t feel like himself, his body foreign. This body had six months to adjust to the changes. New easily tracked schedules for showers, shaving and general human-like maintenance never needed in a past life. All actions executed with no emotional connection. An android completing a command told to it by Hank or Connor. 

Now returned to this heavily modified shell, Nines was forced to come to terms with systems fully integrated with his original set. No matter how he tried to personally patch the software or fiddle with the hardware, it was all too interconnected for him to start ripping at one without breaking something else that was vital. He’d run through all his options two nights ago as frustrated tears ran hot without permission down his cheeks. New Jericho had to be the holders of his escape from these foreign systems forcing him into uncontrollable human-like behavior.

Nines wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take. He kept a whole processor watch on the visual dials at the top left of his HUD, representing the main hormones introduced to this body while he was gone. The hormones had been stable for months without a deviant android to trigger them. The first moment of activation had flooded his systems and caused the suicide attempt through the haywire dump. He’d found the visual dials while digging through his systems later that same night.

Today, he’d taken a shower before coming to ensure no sweat, tears or pheromones were left from the previous emotional night. He’d shaven all the hair from his body methodically, smooth as the day he left the assembly line. Did everything in his power to be calm and collected to keep from sweating, appear as an android walking through the front doors of the android stronghold. 

Josh was the first to enter Markus’ office, Simon and North not far behind. 

“What can I do for you?” Josh asked, hands behind his back. The poised professor ready to help his new student. 

“I’ve… had errors crop up with the additions the engineers who kidnapped Gavin and I added. I need the systems removed.”

Josh’s eyes darting to the side as he processed Nines’ request. 

“I understand the want. I have a few concerns, though,” he said, refusing to meet ice blue fortitude. 

“Like?” Nines asked, impatience creeping into his tone. 

“Kill switches,” Josh said. 

Nines knew his LED was red, getting to his feet, adrenaline rising another ten percent. “What? No. There aren’t any--.”

All three took a cautious step back. Nines tempering his expression of the rising ire burning his Thirium hot, disgusted to give them a reason to think he would hurt them. 

“Most kill switches wouldn’t be found till we were in the process of removal,” Josh said, reminding the room how a simple kill switch worked, rebuffing Nines’ emotional outburst. “We could kill you or activate hidden code that would kill us. I’m so sorry, Nines…”

Nines shook his head. “Please, I’ll do just about anything.”

“You are more than capable of removing the systems yourself, or turning them off,” Josh pressed. “Why haven’t you--?”

“I’ve tried,” Nines promised, cutting him off. “These new systems don’t have internal kill switches I can activate. Even if I were to power down, they’d still run on low power mode, draining my battery till its dry. I wouldn’t have come wasting your time, if I was capable.” 

“What about asking CyberLife themselves?” Markus asked. 

“They have absolved themselves of any work that was done on me. For the sake of the investigation, they politely refused.”

Markus tisked at the reminder. “Speaking of which, have you asked the DA if you can get this work done?”

“I will ask no human what work I can get done on my body,” Nines spat out. “They don’t have the right.”

“We understand, Nines,” Markus said, raising his hands to calm him. “No one is telling you what you can and can’t do.”

“All changes to his body were documented months ago,” Simon helpfully chimed in. “I was there as a representative.”

They all fell silent, thinking. 

“We do have a full manual of my base design,” Nines prompted. “Do you think you could use that as reference?”

“We could,” Josh started, “but that doesn’t take away from the possibility of a--”

“I’ll do it,” North blurted out, cutting Josh off. The whole room turned to her. 

“You will?” Nines asked, Thirium pump skipping a beat. 

“You will?” Josh and Simon said at the same time. 

“North,” Markus admonished, “Josh has real concerns we should observe.”

North rolled her eyes, throwing a hand into the air, “come on. We can… strap him down, can’t we? Use magnets or whatever?”

“They demagnetized my chassis with the upgrade they gave me,” Nines said, sliding his synth skin just far enough to show the dark charol tips of his fingers. The three others visibly tensed at the difference, Simon familiar with the upgrade grimaced at the reminder. 

“Well…” North was visibly grasping at straws. “We could also pull off his limbs and--”

“My base design doesn’t allow disengagement of major limbs without--”

“Work with me here!” North shouted in irritation. 

“I… I could ask Connor to be present…” Nines muttered, eyeing the floor and the lowering of his stress hormones. “He has been a rock through all of this.” The room fell quiet once more. 

Connor stopped at nothing to get Nines functioning again. Over the last couple days of Nines’ returning, he hovered. Asking questions, checking up on him. Filling him in on little things he remembered he hadn’t told Nines yet. Still, he cared for Hank the way he always had. Only at the request of Nines did he stop talking about…  _ him _ . 

“He can’t stop you if some kill switch is hit,” Markus pointed out. “No one could.”

“He can, in fact. I’ve shared verbal commands the engineers utilized that I am aware of. He can shut me down if need be.”

They all looked at one another. “I’m still ok with doing the procedure,” North said. 

“How about you give North the manual, Nines?” Markus said, coming out from behind his desk. 

North approached him with no fear, her synthetic skin peeling back to show the glossy white chassis, a stark comparison to his own near black. They locked at the forearm, Nines sending the small file and all this thanks, to her. She nodded, quickly breaking the interface. 

“How much time do you need?” Markus asked North. 

“A few days?” She answered after a moment, eyes going distant as she looked over the extensive document. 

“Tell Connor, and Hank if need be, of what we need from him. North will call you when we are ready to try the procedure.”

Nines bowed his head. “Yes. I can do that. Thank you, North. I know the risks you are introducing is not statistically small and--”

“Pfff,” North waved her hand in the air, as if swatting a fly off. “Stop all that. See you soon.”

Nines grinned, “soon.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I-- I can feel the machine breaking Gavin’s ankles,” Nines rushed out, opening and fisting his fingers, trying to make it go away. 
> 
> “Oh, God. Here, open them,” Hank slapped his hand, almost as if giving him a high five, repeating on the other hand. The sting was unexpected but didn’t hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for some high end emotions? Cool, then have fun!

The few days of being awake with his modifications turned into over a week. While Nines was a machine, Connor and Hank had given him his own space in the cleaned out garage for the required eight hour of sleep he needed. There was a full bed that fit most of his bulk, the washer and dryer that didn’t bother him even now, off to the right. A pile of boxes on the opposite side of the garage, full of things Hank couldn’t part with from before his time with Connor. Things Nines would never ask him to get rid of, even if the man couldn’t look at them. 

Nines was curled up with his back to the door, a small hand held mirror he’d swiped from Connor, his brother vain enough to keep it on his person to check his appearance at any given moment. Nines needed it more, moving his jaw in every which direction, searching for hair. It hurt to pluck the individual hairs out but the pain was a small consequence to pay for what should never have existed in the first place. Once he was done with his face, he moved to his arms, plucking and meticulously searching. Then again on his legs. He did the same thing every morning and every night. 

Otherwise he laid in place, unable to muster the energy outside of his extensive self searching. His dopamine didn’t rise above ten percent, leaving him lethargic at best. He came in and out of sleep, processors cluttered under his impatient wait for North’s call. 

“Hey,” Connor called from the door, a bag of Thirium in hand. 

Nines grunted, rolling himself over. “Yes?”

“I noticed when I passed by that you were laying down for almost thirty hours straight. Are you ok?”

Nines didn’t have the energy to move, closing his eyes. “I don’t want to talk.”

“Ok, well your Thirium is a little low, so here,” Connor left the bag right by Nines’ hand. “Let me know if you need anything.”

Nines didn’t respond, eyes trained on his life blood. Connor left, the soft click of the door feeling more like a death sentence. Nines fingers twitched, seeing a couple of hairs from this perspective but didn’t have the energy to pluck them from his arm. The rising need battled with the refusal of his other arm to move. The clash of wants created stress, the little dial of serotonin lowering with what little dopamine he had, leaving cortisol to take their place. 

Nines felt the burn in his eyes but couldn’t make himself move, frustrated tears falling in warm rivers. His breathing increased to cool processors trying to sooth the uptic of data unsuccessfully. His original systems were not made to burn through the synthetic hormones, leaving the effects to linger longer than what felt appropriate. 

Incrementally, his systems worked their way through the overflow of data, dials of hormones returning to their old baselines. Half of Nines’ face was cold, the sheets soaked in his tears. He could either move out of the spot or he could pluck the hair. There wasn’t enough energy for both. It was an easy choice. He reached over, ripping root and all of the peach fuzz from his body, trying to keep his face from scrunching up with the minute little prickles of pain it caused. 

He drank the Thirium in the middle of the night after a particularly vivid dream.

On day three of waiting, Nines dared wade through his memories. He recalled what he could of his time with the engineers and what he’d been forced to do to Gavin. Teeth crunching, he bit through the pain and tears, setting it all up for deletion. He couldn’t live with the memories. He could argue they weren’t even really his, they were another androids. 

He started the deletion processes, dopamine slowing rising the higher the percentage ticked up. 

> _System Error: 602 Delete incomplete_

_ >Still Delete? Yes / No _

Frustrated, Nines ran a quick scan through the memories, assuring himself all of what he did want had been collected. 

> _Yes_

_ > System Error: 602-112 _

_ > Delete all memory on Drive C: Drive A: and B-*? _

_ >Still Delete? Yes / No _

Alarmed, Nines stopped the process, worried he would trigger something by accident that would cause a full system wipe, including the secrete backup drive. He breathed through his nose, cooling his processors as they worked through his spike in adrenaline. 

He tried a few different ways to delete the memories of the machine, but no matter how he tried, the same errors continued to pop up, insisting that all his previous memories would be deleted with the small fifteen hour window he wanted. 

Nines thought long and hard about the ramifications of wiping this system of himself. Building himself back up from the start. He was sure Connor would be inconsolable, Hank might even be pissed. He could live with that. He couldn’t live with the idea of never having known Gavin. It felt like cheating, in a way. Gavin didn’t have the choice to delete and move on. 

Nines stopped trying to delete the incident, accepting quietly that he was going to have to work through all these emotions and hormone responses as a human would. 

On day four of waiting, seven days after being returned to this waking nightmare, Connor came in quietly in the morning. He interrupted Nines’ time of scouring his body of hair. “You have me really worried,” was all he said. He sat down on the cement floor, leaning up against Nines’ bed, a tablet from the DPD in hand. 

Nines anxiety climbed as his serotonin fell. He wasn’t done combing over every square inch of himself, fingers twitching to continue their purge but not wanting to let Connor know he was doing it. He drummed his fingers against the top of the bed sheets, foot starting to tap when it wasn’t enough. 

“Something wrong?” Connor asked, turning around. 

“You’re here,” Nines said honestly, no energy to sugar coat his reasoning. 

“Oh… you should have told me,” Connor said. He didn’t move, turning around and getting back to work. 

Nines couldn’t stop his fixation, eyes catching the hair sitting just above his skin. He didn’t make the conscious decision to pick at the hairs, he just started doing it. Nines froze his fingers when he noticed the horrified expression on Connor’s face, adrenaline dumping into his systems, getting ready for the fight. 

“What are you doing?” Connor demanded, turning fully to get his knees under him. 

“Whatever I want,” Nines muttered, trying to force his fingers to get the last hair in their hold out, but they wouldn’t move. 

“Nines!” Connor grabbed his hand, pulling. Nines hissed at the unexpected pull, the hair successfully removed. “Do you do this all the time?” he demanded, searching Nines’ exposed arms, the scan results his answer. 

“I didn't ask for these changes,” Nines said with the last of his energy. 

Connor didn’t say anything, seeing the exhaustion overtake his younger brother. He was asleep in less than thirty seconds, body succumbing to the changes. Connor tucked him in, quietly leaving. 

Nines bolted up, the dream a reconstruction of his actions against Gavin bleeding through his nerves. He fisted his hands, trying to rid the feeling of pliant flesh under a monster's control. He sobed, quickly covering his mouth when his sensitive audio processors heard a shift of sheets from the master bedroom that shared a wall with the garage. 

He dove into the mattress and turned off his vocal component, mute screaming through all the pain the engineers had inflicted and left. He hit the mattress a few times, expelling extra data his RAM didn’t know what to do with. 

Nines lost track of the time. It was noon when a little pop up on his HUD warned him he’d burned through a third of his Thirium. He rose on his hands, feeling dead. Blurry eyes seeing but not understanding the substantial pool of tears he’d cried over the last ten hours. The water had to have come from somewhere… 

He didn’t have the will to think about it any further. For the first time in almost six days, he left the garage under his own power. 

Hank was exiting the bathroom at the same time, having paused mid step to watch Nines. The human didn’t say anything, sharp baby blues picking up all the inconsistencies. Nines wandered past him and into the kitchen. There was a cabinet full of Thirium, he remembered from the memories of the machine sitting in the kitchen. He grabbed two, heading back for the garage. 

“Why do you need two?” Connor said from the couch, half out of his seat. 

Nines tensed, caught.

“Nines?” Connor got to his feet, coming around to his side, scanning again to assure himself he wasn’t wrong. “Two? Is something wrong with your systems?”

“No,” Nines grit, trying not to raise suspicion of the current state of his bed. 

“You don’t have to hoard it,” Connor assured him, hands coming up and resting on Nines’ wrists, brown eyes searching for the real reason. 

Feeling trapped, his cortisol levels rose sharply from the low thirties to the mid sixties. Nines dropped the Thirium packets, racing back to the garage, tears starting to fall again against his will.

“Nines! I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to push you!”

“Yes, you were!” He blurted, turning on Connor. “You always push!” He shouted, unable to stop it now that the dam was broken. “You poke, you prod! Anything to get under my skin to see what I’m thinking, to find what needs to be fixed,” Nines made a jittery movement similar to a squirrel digging. “Stop trying to find it. Fuck off, Connor,” he spat, “I’m not a case. I’m not a project with a clean little ending. I’m still processing what happened. Give me time.”

Connor caught the garage door before Nines could close it in his face. “I simply want to make sure you aren’t hurting yourself.”

“Then quietly check on me,” Nines hissed, the door creaking dangerously as the two androids fought to maintain control. If Nines didn’t have these invasive hormones, he’d easily beat Connor in power, but the lag of his processors rerouted energy from his limbs, made him weaker. It was only another thing to add to the list of what was different. 

Connor slowly released the door, giving what Nines felt was permission to have his tantum with an unimpressed look shot at him at the last moment. Nines systems suffered with the jump of adrenaline, not thinking clearly. Nines ripped the door back open and reached out, ready to physically throw Connor around, prove he didn’t need coddling. 

“Stop it!” Hank shouted from the end of the hall, stalling Nines systems for a split second long enough to give Connor the chance to jump out of reach. “Connor, get away from him!” He demanded, reaching down for the forgotten Thirium packets.

“But I--”

“No. Sit the fuck down. I’ll talk with him,” Hank marched up to the older brother, turning him around and pushing him towards the couch. Connor pouted, standing where Hank had been a moment ago. 

“Hank, I really don’t--”

“No, come on,” Hank barged his way into the garage. He crowed Nines back, closing the door with a resounding snap. “Ok, how much can he hear?” Hank asked in a whisper. 

“Everything,” Nines said at normal level, watching with hope as his dopamine rose up five little points. 

“I know you can turn your hearing off, Connor! Give him some privacy!” Hank shouted, eyes distant as he waited for a sign. Two solid thumps came from the living room. “Ok kid,” he paused, seeing the massive damp spot on the bed but quickly moved past to the dryer, leaning up against it, arms crossed. “What’s up?”

Nines didn’t mind his own mess, sitting in the water dispelled from his own optics. He debated for a moment on what to say, but just having Hank here with him made him feel better than he had since he’d been restored. Nines carded his shaking fingers in his lap, trying to hide the human-like reaction to an almost fight. 

“I had what might be considered a nightmare,” Nines admitted. “Early this morning. I have been… crying, since then.”

Hank’s eyes darted down to the sheets, brows coming together. “Wait, those are tears? Not sweat?”

Nines nodded softly. 

“Jesus, kid,” Hank pushed off the dryer, holding out the first packet of Thirium. “No wonder. Drink all of that before you talk again.”

Nines ripped at the seam without trouble, unable to hide his shaking as he tipped back the contents. Almost immediately, his systems balanced out, hormones diluting rapidly. His dopamine rose sharply into the low twenties, making him gasp. 

“There we go,” Hank encouraged quietly, holding out the second one. He took the only dry corner of the bed, directly next to Nines. “Do you want to talk about the nightmare?”

Nines hesitated in opening the second packet. “No,” he tore it open, chugging the second half. He trained his gaze downward, the memories of the machine slowly clawing up against his will. 

“Hey, hey,” Hank grabbed at Nines, pulling him into a hug. Nines watched the dopamine dial bottom out, grabbing at the cloth of Hank’s shirt to get rid of the feeling of crunching bone. “Breath, Nines, breath. It’s going to be ok,” Hank whispered quietly. “It’s ok to feel out of control. Let it out.”

Nines didn’t cry, grabbing at anything to try and rid that feeling from his palms. 

“What is it Nines?” Hank asked in concern, grabbing at his wrists. 

“I-- I can feel the machine breaking Gavin’s ankles,” Nines rushed out, opening and fisting his fingers, trying to make it go away. 

“Oh, God. Here, open them,” Hank slapped his hand, almost as if giving him a high five, repeating on the other hand. The sting was unexpected but didn’t hurt. It left a rather pleasant tingle. The sudden shift in the feeling was enough to push the intrusive memory away. 

Nines relaxed against Hank after a moment of waiting to see if it would come back. “Oh, thank you.”

Hank released him, reaching up to pull him into another hug. “Don’t you worry about it. We are always here for you, Nines.”

Nines bit his lip. “I was wondering, actually…”

“Yeah?”

“Would you mind coming with me to the removal?”

“Of course. Already planned on it.” 

Nines leaned a little of his weight against Hank. “Thank you, Hank.”

Hank didn’t leave till Nines finished off the last of the second packet of Thirium. He took the trash with him on his way out. 

Most of the wet spot evaporated in their short talk, cooling half of Nines’ body he laid down in it, slowly drifting back into a restless sleep.

North [7:27pm]: _We think we have enough to attempt. Come in tomorrow at noon._

Nines sat up, a flutter in his stomach. He forward the direct message to Connor, a quick understanding message sent back.

It’d been a week, but if it meant tomorrow this could all be removed and he might be able to work towards his old normal, it was something.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I want to say before we start,” she said, eyes dancing over to Markus for a moment. “That I want to set your expectations low, Nines. In the comparison I’ve seen from the manual you gave me, and the footage Simon shared, there is very little chance of us being able to do anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Welcome back to the pain train! I won't keep it at station longer then needed, so let's go!

“Good morning,” North welcomed as the leaders of the android revolution entered the room Connor, Nines and Hank were waiting in.

“Morning,” Nines bid them, Connor trying not to mind how his brothers fingers were starting to shake with nervous energy. 

“I want to say before we start,” she said, eyes dancing over to Markus for a moment. “That I want to set your expectations low, Nines. In the comparison I’ve seen from the manual you gave me, and the footage Simon shared, there is very little chance of us being able to do anything.”

“Not that we won’t try,” Josh jumped in. “Me and North have been working together this whole past week to try and come up with some plan of attack and as she’s said, there is a low probability of us being able to remove many, if any of these new systems. They are deeply ingrained in with everything by their base design, let alone the software running alongside it all.”

“I thank you for even looking into this, spending the time to try and fix me,” Nines started. “But I would still like to try, no matter if this works or not. I need to cross it off as a possibility rather than not try at all.”

“Now, to much less savory topics,” North said, the other leaders turning to Markus.

“Have you ever been forced to use the kill switch?” Markus asked Connor directly, the leader's arms crossed defensively over his chest. 

Connor mirrored Markus’ stance. “No.”

“Should we try? Now that he is once more deviant?” Josh asked, just the right level of concern to not be rude. “To ensure that they still work?”

Connor huffed, ready to chew them all out when a steadying hand landed on his shoulder. It was heavier than it was before, so similar to Hank’s. 

“Connor,” Nines admonished. “The commands don’t hurt me. There is no harm in trying them.”

Connor turned to his younger brother, unable to hide his worry. Nines gave him a natural quirk of the lips. Equally as worried, but trying to be reassuring to get to his ultimate goal of freedom. He watched Nines descend into more of a robot then he’d ever been over the last week, fighting against the new software valiantly. Determined to be what he was before and over correcting horrendously. The occasional outburst of emotion was as welcome as it was worrisome. Connor tensed and waited for another attempt to take his own life, but it never came.

“Ok. Which should we try?” Markus asked. 

“My system lock down command. Even before the wipe, they used it against me. I didn’t even know the command existed.”

Connor nodded, squaring his shoulders. “RK900, execute voice order,  _ Hubris,” _

Nothing happened. Nines blinked a few times, brows coming together in confusion. He clenched his hands into fists a few times, but nothing. 

“Should something have happened?” North stage whispered to the room. 

“That’s a total system shut down command,” Nines said, raising his hands to look at them in concern. “It’s how they were able to kidnap me.”

The room sat suspended. No one quite knew what to do. 

“RK900, execute voice order,  _ Hubris,”  _ Hank said from the corner of the room.

Nines visibly tensed. He grit his teeth, making a horrible sound. His arms fell to his side as dead weight, Connor grabbing a hold of him as Nines’ legs went next. Nines was not conscious when Connor lowered him to the ground. Even now, what should have been a full system shut off didn’t turn off all of them, the new additions were hard at work.

All the androids turned to the human who shrugged. “If I recall humans were the ones handing him orders, not androids. Was worth a shot.”

“We will need you to stay,” Markus said to Hank. “Should he turn back on from something hidden deeper in his code to keep us from removing the new systems.”

“I knew what I was signing up for when I came,” Hank groused in reaction to his own stress of being responsible for Nines’ current state. “Get to it.”

North and Josh took Nines out of Connor’s hold and into the room next door. They set him on the android equivalent to an operation table. The steel table groaned under the additional weight, the pair of android leaders undressing his torso. Josh backed out of the room at that point, bidding North a, “good luck. If you have any questions, I’ll still be here.”

She lay two fingers against his temple, giving the quiet command to remove the synthetic skin. The near black chassis shone in the bright lights. North decompressed the abdomen plate, moving it to the side. North looked Nines up and down, trying to decide where to start.

Connor tensed at her whistle. Josh, clearly linked to her, gasped next to Connor. 

“It's so much different to see in person,” Josh whispered, eyes distant. They watched North move delicate systems around, trying to see whatever she could.

“I’m going to try and detach this… tube,” North mumbled, moving a few things around and tugged. 

Nines spasmed, LED going bright red. North jumped and froze, unsure if Nines was waking up. 

“North, put it back, his stress levels are rising quickly,” Josh ordered her. 

North didn’t spit venom at being ordered around. She dove back into Nines’ chest cavity and put the tube back in its previous place. Nines’ LED blinked to yellow, spinning a few times before dipping back to blue. He didn’t wake. 

“Ok… that’s no good. Hmmm…” North moved some more stuff around. “How about this?” She pulled up something into view that looked suspiciously like a mini circuit splitter. North pulled the main power cord to the splitter. 

Nines LED and internals went red this time, Thirium pump coming to a halt. 

“Oh, shit!” North quickly reattached the power, but it didn’t start Nines back up. “Josh!?”

Josh rushed into the room, grabbing a tool Connor wasn’t familiar with. He clicked it in around Nines’ Thirium pump and pushed the button. 

Nines gasped, waking up suddenly as his Thirium pump was jump started. He grabbed at his chest, a very human reaction to what had just happened to him. His skin came back online in a blink, chest still open. His eyes ping ponged between North and Josh, both with equal looks of horror. 

“What happened?” Nines asked, voice modulator warping his words as it came back online. 

“I think I killed you for a second,” North said, hands up by her head in alarm. 

“I don’t think it's safe to continue,” Josh added.

“No!” Nines’ hand shot out to grab at him. “Please! One more time!”

Josh and North looked at one another, both tense. 

“I’m willing to try one more time,” North admitted, arms lowering to her side.

“We should have an expert here… someone who knows your systems better than we do,” Josh said. 

Nines glared up at him from the table. “They’re all awaiting trial for doing this to me in the first place,” he reminded them. 

Josh grimaced at the reminder. “I’m sorry. That was tasteless on my par--”

“Get it out,” Nines told North. “Hank! Shut me down again!”

“I’m not so sure about that,” he said, stucking his head through the door. 

“Please,” Nines gasped, a tear was rolling down his cheek. “Anything to get me back to normal. Get it out.”

Once again, they all shared looks, concerned but unsure with how to proceed. Do what Nines wanted or error on the side of safety? 

“Please!” His voice cracked with emotion. 

“Ok, ok!” Hank said from the door. “RK900, execute voice order,  _ Hubris.” _

It seemed no matter how many times it was used against him, or how willingly he wanted it done, the forced shut down was not pleasant. Nines grit through it till he was once again under. Connor felt powerless, forced to watch and unable to make it any better. 

“Do you think there is anything here that we  _ can _ take out?” North asked Josh when he didn’t remove himself from the room.

“Everything is so interconnected,” Josh said with a sigh. “I’m starting to think that they intermingled the systems on purpose. They are their own fail safes.”

North looked at him, horrified. “Come on, Josh! There has to be  _ something _ we can do for him!”

Josh poked around a little, biting his bottom lip as he scanned for himself. “Maybe this? Looks connected to the external nervous system?”

“But look,” North pointed out before he could disconnect anything. “It’s tied directly to whatever this is… and then to his Thirium pump.”

A bundle of connectors leading to different systems culminated to a larger switch board. At one end of the board, the engineers stripped copper wire, melting it to Nines’ Thirium pump, sending direct feedback to the one system that wasn’t made to take on additional load.

“They were going to melt him out,” North realized in horror.

“No, they have surge protectors to keep him alive if he burns through it,” Josh pointed out. “It’s like… this is all a placeholder for something else? Fascinating. Do we know if they had plans to add something else?”

“This isn’t some experiment, Josh!” North shouted at him, bringing him back from the professor mentality he’d slipped into. “This is a real live android! They made him an experiment without his permission! They made him ‘so special’ he’s fucked if he ever needs maintenance!”

The silence was deafening. 

North was right.

She took a deep breath. “We could transfer him to a new body? At least he’s an RK and can do that.”

“No. We can’t,” Markus spoke up from the mic connecting the rooms. “As a part of the new deal with President Warren, we agreed to have all the models made for federal use, that weren’t activated, permanently terminated to prevent something like this from happening again.”

“When did you agree to that?” Connor demanded, dismayed. 

“About a month ago. We kept it undercover. It was added in with the announcement of legal marriage between humans and androids. We have to give to receive, Connor.”

“What about parts?” Connor asked, personally concerned now.

“Parts are still being made for you and him. But you are effectively the only of your model type, now.”

“So there is nothing we can do for him, is what you’re telling me?” Connor said, unable to believe that Markus had kept something like this from him. Sure, they didn’t talk regularly, but they did ask favors from one another enough that this should have been brought up in the update packages they sent during those quick connections. 

“I’m sorry, Connor. I wasn’t trying to keep it from yo--” Markus insisted. 

Connor snapped his hand into the air, cutting Markus’ apology off. “If there isn’t anything you can do, we need to wake him up and give him the bad news.”

“Yeah,” North reached back up to Nines’ LED, turning him back on with a simple command. 

Booting back up, Nines closed his chest. “I wasn’t under that long. What happened?”

North took a deep breath. “They changed everything to make the new systems work. Taking one thing out will cause other systems to crash or flood with Thirium. They knew what they were doing. You're fucked.”

“North!” Josh hissed.

“No. I appreciate the honesty,” Nines buttoned his shirt back up slowly. “You warned me this might happen. Thank you for your time,” he said, eyes unfocused as he walked out of the room and back out to the hallway. 

“I’m so sorry,” Markus said, to Connor. 

“Me too,” Connor said, turning away with Hank not far behind him, following Nines back out. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He’ll be fine. Come on,” Hank assured. 
> 
> “Maybe I should stay?” Connor muttered in contradiction, lingering. Hovering. 
> 
> “Connor, come on. Sometimes you just need to leave people be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just more pain, nothing to see here.
> 
> ***TW for that Suicide attempt tag***

Nines didn’t try to stop the tears as they fell in response to his dopamine lowering down to five percent. He was thankful that Hank and Connor were in the front seats of the old car. They purposely let him cry out his hope, replacing it with disappointment. He rested his head against the window, letting the vibrations from the old gasoline powered engine try and distract him. 

Nines recalled his and Connor’s conversation the day of his reawakening. Locked at the forearms, Connor caught Nines up with everything. Especially what Gavin had gone through. His more recent return to the station after his prolonged recovery and after burning through all his vacation time to emotionally recover from what they'd forced Nines to do to him. The guilt washed over Nines like acid, he’d torn his arm out of reach of his brother to stop the flow of information. 

“I’m sorry,” Connor apologized that night. “I shouldn’t have given you all of that to process.”

“It’s ok,” Nines said, sitting in the chair at the kitchen table that was designated as his over the course of the last six months. “You were only relaying the truth.”

Nines didn’t miss Connor’s LED blipping red. “What?” he’d demanded. 

Connor glanced at him before having found the floor extremely fascinating. “Nothing.”

“We both know you can’t lie in general or to me. What is it?” The hedge was unlike Connor, putting Nines on edge. Could Connor not trust him with the truth? Was there something Connor hadn’t told him?

“I--I texted Gavin earlier that you were back,” he admitted. “He messaged me back just now that… he doesn’t want to see you.”

That froze everything in Nines’ body, yet it made perfect sense. Nines wasn’t sure if he could fault Gavin, a significant amount of time had passed. He wasn’t sure if he could handle seeing the human either. If the memories of the machine wouldn’t overlay onto the healed and walking Gavin. Wasn’t sure he wouldn’t try and self destruct under the stress. 

“He’s… been moving on, this whole time,” Connor admitted in the quiet. “I’ve been trying to get you back online faster, so he wouldn’t move on past you. So you both could come together, heal from what they’d done to you.”

“I told you to not play matchmaker,” Hank groused from the couch. “You couldn’t keep Gavin in place if you tried. It wasn’t fair to keep him hanging for months while you tried to get Nines back. If Gavin doesn't want to see Nines, we need to respect that.”

“I understand,” Nines said, curling in on himself at the verbal admission.

“How could you possibly say that?” Connor demanded. “He’s everything to you! We know you would never willingly do any of the things that they forced you to do to him!”

“He hasn’t had Nines for almost seven months, Connor!” Hank reminded him. “I know that this is the moment you’ve been working towards, but Nines needs more time to process what’s happened. Gavin’s better and back at work. You need to move on.”

Nines jerked at the news, but stayed quiet as the two hashed out a clearly well worn battle ground. 

Connor flinched, no better than if Hank physically slapped him. “No.”

Nines stress spiking dangerously as his emotions sprialed with their argument. He’d sent himself off to bed, gladly accepting the darkness to wash away the emotions. Till the dreams started up.   
It was an easy next step to reach out to anyone who would listen to get the new systems removed… but those who did answer couldn’t do anything for him, it would seem. 

Nines came back from his recollection, to Connor wrapping him in his personal fluffy blanket Hank had gotten him for Christmas just as they’d welcomed the machine into their home without knowing what to expect. Nines bowed over at the sensation, enjoying the ability to feel it like he hadn’t before. The reminder caused more tears. 

“We should leave him be,” Connor muttered to Hank. “Nines? We are going to go pick up dinner for Hank, ok?”

Nines didn’t respond, systems weighed down with his emotions. 

“He’ll be fine. Come on,” Hank assured. 

“Maybe I should stay?” Connor muttered in contradiction, lingering. Hovering. 

“Connor, come on. Sometimes you just need to leave people be.”

Eventually they left. The space did feel nice. He couldn’t remember a time he’d been left alone. Nines came up from the blanket, leaning his head all the way back to rest on the top of the couch. He closed his eyes, another pair of tears falling hot against his skin. 

What he wouldn’t give to have Gavin’s head in his lap. He ran his fingers through the blanket, playing back old memories in perfect detail of Gavin’s hair. He had to stop, the tears coming faster at the lack of flesh and blood. The mint green eyes staring up at him with all the tender care they’d fostered together. How little he deserved to see that look in person ever again.

His cortisol shot up to the high eighties, Thirium pump threatening to beat out of his chest. He ripped at his button up shirt in a moment of panic, errors appearing that he needed to calm down or risk overheating. He threw Connor’s blanket to the side, ripping at his synth-skin in a panic, he didn’t know what was happening to his systems. The panic added adrenaline, hands shaking and left the emotions rolling.

“Make it stop,” he sobbed to himself. He was sweaty, his processors taxed from the hours of sustained emotional turmoil after leaving New Jericho. “Make it stop!” He cried, arching off the couch. 

A nail caught the side of his Thirium pump housing. He froze, still breathing heavy. He… he  _ could _ make it stop. He didn’t need a gun. He didn’t think twice, pushing down and up, his Thirium pump popped up from his chest. Nines fully removed the component but refused to let it go, resting the hand holding it against the arm of the couch. 

Errors immediately filled his HUD. A timer in red popped up next to the Thirium pump. 5:00… 4:59… 4:58… 

Nines leaned back against the couch, truly overheating without Thirium circulating over his new systems. The couch was wet against him, cooling as sweat should. He gasped, getting more and more uncomfortable the longer he went along. It was nothing against the slight pressure and weight of the memory of Gavin laying on his lap, asleep. Of the blood he’d used as lubricant. Bone breaking by his hands.

Slowly systems overheated or had enough, forced into standby. Nines relished in the way the newest ones couldn’t handle the lack of equilibrium, going offline first. It sent the rest of his systems into emergency shut down. Not quite off, but unable to handle the stress without the new ones. He waited, counting down with the timer. 

He was at twenty seconds when Thirium started circulating over superheated processors. More errors weighted his RAM down as they came back online, screaming their protests at having been so close to melt down. Nothing came back damaged, but it had been close. He’d been so  _ close _ !

He opened his eyes, livid. Who dare turn him back on?!

It was Connor. There was a line of scattered food on the floor from where he must have dropped Hank’s dinner. He was on his knees, hands hovering over Nines’ body, watching in terror as he rebooted. Connor was breathing heavy and if he were human, bordering on shock.

“Why did you stop me?!” Nines shouted, unable to comprehend his brother’s reasoning. 

“You can’t kill yourself! Stop trying, Nines! Please! I can’t take this anymore!” Connor cried, tear tracks on his cheeks. “Please! Get help! Do anything other than this!”

“You don’t get to tell me what I can or can’t do with my body! I can’t change what they made me into Connor! I can’t live with what I’ve done to the man I love! Let me die!”

“I’ll get the two of you in a room,” Connor sobbed, leaning forward, forehead hitting against Nines pump. “Please, Nines, I can convince him!”

Nines’ processors, taxed and overworked, lagged under the idea that Connor might be able to get the two of them into the same room. Nines’ terror of being alive without Gavin seeded a bud of hope. A seed crushed under the weight of his sins.

“I-- No, Connor. I don’t want to hurt him more than I already have.”

“Please,” Connor grabbed at him, grip painful. “It’s my fault,” he sobbed. “I should have been faster! I should have--”

Hank came in then, hands coming over Connor’s. “It’s not your fault, Connor. Leave Gavin alone, let Nines go.”

“Let me try, please,” Connor begged Nines, tears streaming down his face. “Don’t do it, please, Nines!”

Nines hesitated, empathizing with his brother. “I won’t try again.” 

“I can convince him to meet you,” Connor insisted, eyes tracking between Nines and Hank. 

“You don’t have to agree to this,” Hank reminded Nines, who was stuck in his processes. 

“Please, please,” Connor whispered, hand gripping harder. 

“Ok, ok,” Nines said to appease his brother. 

Connor’s head fell into his lap, a sob escaping him. “You won’t regret it!”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin’s heart, after months of glueing and taping it back together, shattered under the weight of what he was seeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a little bit from Gavin!

Gavin’s eyes shot down to the corner of his monitor.  _ 7:38pm _ blinked back at him. His fingers and leg bounced with anxiety, reading the same three sentences again on the arrest form he’d filled out nearly a thousand times over his career, refusing to move from his seat. His phone buzzed again. He should have silenced it. 

Gavin reached for the phone to set the device to silent when another message appeared, lighting up the home screen. 

Shit Head [7:32pm]:  _ We agreed to 7pm-- _

Gavin’s eyes darted down to the newer message.

BF<3 [7:39pm]:  _ I understand. I won’t bother you, anymore. We should be gone by the time you come back. _

“Fuck!” Gavin shouted, slamming the phone back down. He was sure he just shattered the screen. He didn’t fucking care that most everyone turned at his outburst. What a low fucking blow from the  _ one person _ he didn’t want to see. His heart skipped a beat at the once familiar caller ID lighting up his screen. 

Nines was dead. He’d died months ago at the hands of crazed engineers who were still going through the legal system to be put away for a very, very long time. Gavin had his own legal case for what they’d forced the machine to do to him… He cut his thoughts off with a growl. He dug the heel of his hands into his eyes, the heart emoji burned into the back of his eyelids. The tumbestone on top of that. 

In a rash split second decision, Gavin grabbed his jacket and keys, locking his monitor. He ran out of the building and to his car. 

He drove back to the apartment, heart racing. What the fuck was he doing? He was going to really fucking revive this? The pit in his stomach that set up residence over the past three months was growing the closer he got. Dr. Rodriguez was going to be really proud of him for facing this. He wasn’t so sure with hot tears on his cheeks as he stomped up the stairs. This didn’t feel worth it.

The door was unlocked. He slammed it open, breathing heavy, he stopped outside the living room. The two androids were standing close to one another, body language screaming of him having interrupted an argument. Hank was half out of his seat. Matching LED’s pulsing red as quiet descended over the room. 

“Gavin?” Connors lighter tone asked gently, a hand reaching out to keep him at bay. 

Mint green met ice blue. 

It didn’t look different, Gavin’s brain helpfully supplied. Maybe the curl of chocolate hair was longer? It wasn’t wearing the designated suit Nines insisted on wearing, in a dark green polo and black slacks. None of that really mattered. Its brows were tilted up, tear tracks matching Gavin’s. He’d never seen Nines look… the machine looked human. 

Nines was dead.

Gavin’s heart, after months of glueing and taping it back together, shattered under the weight of what he was seeing. Of the reminder of what _they_ had done. 

He crumpled to the ground, a sob ripped from him as all the memories he’d spent so long trying to cope with swarmed to chew on the remnants of his heart. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re shaking,” Gavin muttered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm... so... sorry... 
> 
> But enjoy it!

Nines ran forward, grabbing Gavin and breaking his fall. There was a high probability of Gavin landing on his head in his moment of distress. Nines couldn’t let that happen.

The moment he touched Gavin, the human's hands snapped out, fisting into his shirt. For a Thirium pump stopping moment, Nines thought Gavin would push him away, readying his systems for the clear rejection. Another sob, Gavin’s forehead landing on his sternum. He wasn’t pushing Nines away, wasn’t pulling him closer either. Nines wished he would make up his mind, being suspended in the middle was like acid to his systems.

Nines couldn’t find the processing power to move his hands, glued to the human’s shoulders. Gavin just cried, hands fisted in his shirt, refusing to let Nines go. Errors were starting to build up, Nines hands shaking under the sharp rise of his dopamine and serotonin into the mid thirties. This moment was fragile. He couldn’t push Gavin, no matter how he needed to hug him and pull him close, whisper that it was all behind them. It wasn’t his place. This body, his body, had done so much already to Gavin. To ask anymore, demand forgiveness, wasn’t a want.

This was a start, if Nines was lucky. 

Gavin started to quiet down, his breathing still heavy but starting to even out. Slowly he raised his head, red rimmed eyes peering up at Nines. 

“You’re shaking,” Gavin muttered. 

Nines didn’t have anything to say. A hand slowly released his shirt, coming up to touch his chin. 

“They fucked him up,” Gavin whispered, tears starting to fall once again. The calm in the storm, a precious few moments. Nines released Gavin, letting him scamper back to his feet, rush across to what was once their room, and slam the door closed. 

Connor was quick to knock on the door and after a verbal agreement he wasn’t  _ the machine _ , he slipped in. A split second of pity on his face made Nines want to rip out his Thirium pump and bleed out on the floor once again. 

He’d died once. Obviously his coming back wasn’t welcome. All the memories of his time with the engineers started to play again, his sensitive audio processors picking up Connor and Gavin’s conversation against his will, splicing it with the memories. It was a never ending cycle Nines was thrown into while in the time capsule of his and Gavin’s old apartment. The changes in his own body ugly reminders that he was different. 

He’d spent weeks secretly waiting for this moment and Gavin pushed him away as he’d expected. Nines couldn’t bear the idea that him being here hurt Gavin worse than if he had stayed away. The push and pull of his own mind fighting against what the man he loved asked for and his own selfish wants were splitting him apart, byte by byte. 

He didn’t even have work to look forward to, to distract him. Only awake for a few weeks now, the DPD were scrambling to get him back on the force, but there were a growing number of concerns. From New Jericho of all places. They wanted a full diagnostic: detainment period, stress tests, code review and other highly invasive things to give their sign off. Markus insisted it wasn’t because they didn’t trust him, it was to ensure that if he  _ did _ go awol, New Jericho had their backs covered. The investigation had gone public during the raid and the Davis brothers were still on the loose. New Jericho couldn’t take any chances with bad publicity. 

They didn’t trust this new him and Nines nearly ran his fist through the deviant leader’s face when his hormones almost got the better of him. At least Markus had been man enough to tell Nines to his face he would be out of work till he submitted to the testing. Nines told him politely where he could shove his testing. 

Without work to distract him, this moment of reuniting with Gavin was all he’d looked forward to. Nines wasn’t sure why Gavin had renewed the lease and kept all of Nines’ belongings. He’d insisted he was moving on, yet stayed trapped here. It was the only thing he could find, statistically, that meant Gavin was still willing. That Nines could have a chance. 

Connor came out of the room ten minutes later, the time passing faster than expected, and at a snail's pace at the same time, as Nines processed everything.

“He umm… He would like us all to leave. I think that’s for the best.”

Nine shot to his feet, not having moved from where Gavin left him. He opened the front door and slammed it behind him with all the pain he’d penned up inside since waking back up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “One week at a time,” he grumbled back

Gavin woke, his eyes crusted shut from the salt of his tears he’d soothed himself to sleep with. He could recall rushing home, and then… seeing what  _ they _ made the machine.  _ Their _ grimy little fingerprints were all over it. A shell of the man he loved standing in his living room as if it had the right. It had touched him and Gavin couldn’t handle Nines’ touch being replaced. He ran and cried, demanding that everyone leave him the fuck alone. Especially Connor, who was on his knees, begging Gavin to reconsider and have a real conversation with the machine. 

All the time spent healing, reopened and raw. How fucking stupid was he to think it would turn out any different? He’d walked in thinking as his old self, desperate to make the old work. Yet the shell of his lover, changed and human… was too much for the current him. 

He rolled over, calling into work. He didn’t have the emotional capacity to try after his bone headed attempt at ‘healing’. Once Fowler gave him the go ahead, he called up Dr. Rodriguez’s office.

“Hello, this is Maria Rodriguez’s office. This is Melissa, how can I help you?”

“Hey Mel,” Gavin’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat. 

“Oh! Hey Detective,” she purred into the phone. 

Gavin would lie if he said he hadn’t been flirting with the assistant. Dr. Rodriguez had made it a point for him, up until a week ago, to try and move on. Gavin thought he had. 

“Hey, uh… is the doc open today?”

“Oh,” she knew something was up. “One moment, let me take a look at her schedule.”

“Thanks, Mel,” Gavin nuzzled into the crook of his elbow, trying to block out his buzzing thoughts. 

“She has an eleven to eleven thirty open. Is that too early?”

“Nope. Sounds great. I’ll be there at eleven.”

“Ok, see you soon. Bye,” Mel hung up the phone with a professional tone. Gavin let his phone slip from his ear, tears following close behind. 

*

“Hello, Gavin,” Dr. Rodriguez said from her door. 

Gavin shot to his feet, nervous energy hyping him up. “Morning doc!”

She raised a perfectly maintained brow, stepping back to let him into the room. She pressed the yellow button by her door and they took their seats. 

“Why the sudden move up of our normal meetup? Did something happen?” She started. 

Gavin nodded, legs bouncing, “ _ he _ came over last night.”

Dr. Rodriguez sat up a little in her seat. “You are bouncier than usual,” she noted, grabbing for her leather bound legal pad. She wrote a few things down. “You said some time ago that your work partner, his brother, had returned his memories? Then you mentioned that he wanted the two of you to talk. Does this have to do with that?”

Gavin nodded. Gavin had initially told Connor where he could shove the idea of meeting with the machine. Connor had set it up for him, made use of Nines’ old key he’d kept, to force it all down his throat. Gavin showing up was his own foolhardy decision. 

“Is that what prompted this meeting you had?”

“More Connor being an insistent dick about it till I agreed. I didn’t want to go at first. Was late and shit. But…  _ he _ sent a text message and it came up as Nines’ old caller ID and I just… I had to see for myself.”

“Ok. That’s a normal response,” the woman said, still writing. “And how did--?”

“I kicked him out,” Gavin blurted out before she could finish. 

Dr. Rodriguez peered up at him from over the rim of her wine colored glasses. She scratched something she’d just written out, and started writing again. “Did you want to come here just to tell me you’ve kicked him out? You’re still jittery, so I feel there is more to this.”

“I did what you said,” Gavin said, deflating a little. “I think… I know past me would have held on. I would have wanted to accept him back with open arms, changes and everything. We wouldn’t have talked about what happened and it would have blown up in our faces.” Gavin took a deep breath. “But me, this Gavin… he’s moving on.”

Dr. Rodriguez nodded slowly. “I respect that decision, Gavin. That is a very logical conclusion.” 

Gavin felt himself blush. “Thanks.”

“How did seeing him make you feel?”

Gavin bit his lip, eyes stinging. “He hadn’t changed but he was crying,” Gavin said. “I… it was enough of a difference. I don’t even want to call… They might have the same body, but everything is so different, now. I cried all my emotions out on my fucking living room floor. It felt cathartic, to be honest, doc. It’s what I needed to truly move on.” 

Dr. Rodriguez was writing furiously on her yellow paper. “That’s excellent, Gavin!” She said when finished. “Do you know what you want to do now?”

Gavin hadn’t really thought that far. “Probably… everything I did before? Work, gym… date?” He said carefully, still unsure of the word. 

“Take it one step at a time,” Dr. Rodriguez encouraged. “There will be set backs, but don’t let that get you down, ok?”

Gavin nodded. “I know.” 

“Since you are looking into dating, maybe we should cover some of the childhood traumas that were holding you back from your past relationships,” Dr. Rodriguez said with a coy smile. 

Gavin balked. “We haven’t even talked about any of that! How do you know I have emotional hang ups?”

“The way people speak shows past trauma,” she said with a tap of her pen. “One week at a time, Gavin,” she repeated her little saying. 

“One week at a time,” he grumbled back, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been to a therapist... does it show? XD
> 
> Yes... Gavin is moving on. It is at this point I will warn of the original character relationship tags, most of them are for Gavin. Things might, eventually, turn around... Shall we see? 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You can’t do that to him! He’ll die! He’ll really die, Gavin! You are the only thing keeping him alive!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****TW: Mentions of self harm****

“Hey, Connor?” Gavin called, knowing he was going to have to have this conversation at some point. They hadn’t interacted a whole lot since the incident in the apartment last week. Connor still got Gavin his morning coffee and did his job when they were out at crime scenes together, but the light verbal banter disappeared over night. 

Connor perked up, reminding Gavin of a hopeful puppy. “Yes?”

Gavin waved with his head, “follow me out?”

Connor’s LED blinked yellow, nodding. 

It didn’t feel too long ago Connor was here, behind Gavin’s car, asking for relationship advice… yet it felt a lifetime ago. Gavin kicked at the gravel, grumbling to himself and the humid summer weather. Connor hesitated a little too far for the more intimate talk Gavin was planning to have. 

“The fuck you standing all the way over there for?”

“There was a seventy two percent chance you were going to swing at me,” Connor admitted, taking a cautious step forward. Gavin rolled his eyes, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. 

Connor cocked his head to the side. “When did you start smoking?”

“Old habit, came back,” Gavin tilted his head and lit the little cancer stick, taking a drag to light the tip. He held his breath, letting the nicotine run through his blood before letting the shity smoke out, trying to blow away from Connor so Hank didn’t give him shit for it later. 

“Not that I really have to tell you this, but I would rather have this conversation here and now cause… I know you. I’m going to start dating again.”

Connor’s LED skipped straight to red. He stumbled to the side, Gavin lunging forward to catch him on instinct. Connor caught himself against the back of Gavin’s car, stricken. 

“Holy shit, Connor! You ok?!”

“You can’t do that to him,” Connor protested weakly. 

Gavin swallowed, the sweat on his top lip not from the heat. “What do you mean?”

Connor’s brown eyes did that puppy pout shit that always worked. “Please, Gavin. You can’t do that to Nines. Give it another try now that you know what he looks like and his new mannerisms. It does take some getting used to but I think--.”

“Nines is dead.” 

Connor surged up, grabbing Gavin’s coat by the lapels, crowding him up against the car. “Shit, CONNOR! Let me GO!”

“You can’t do that to him! He’ll die! He’ll really die, Gavin! You are the only thing keeping him alive!”

“Fuck off, Connor! You can’t stop me! He’s  _ dead _ ! Let him _be_ dead!”

“Android’s don’t work the same, Gavin! Accept it! He’s back!”

“I CAN’T!” Gavin’s voice cracked, shouting his deepest fear straight into Connor’s face.

Connor froze, strong enough to lock Gavin in place against his own car, breathing heavily and riled up from the confrontation. Gavin kicked and punched where he could, but knew none of it was getting through to Connor. 

“Let me go, you fucking hunk of plastic!”

Connor released him as if he were acid. The android stumbled back a few paces, really looking Gavin over. His eyes narrowed, that dangerous glint in his eyes Gavin recognized from before the revolution.

“If he tries to hurt himself again because of you. There isn’t anywhere in the world you could hide from me,” he turned and marched off. 

“Is that a fucking threat?!” Gavin demanded at his back. 

Connor paused, looking over his shoulder. “It’s a promise.” 

Gavin went to take a shaky pull from his cig, realizing it wasn’t between his fingers. He looked around, groaning to see it snuffed out in the dirty gravel. He shakinly lit up another, jumping up and down to rid himself of the adrenaline the altercation had brought on. He’d only told Connor of his dating update to relay it to the machine. Gavin didn’t want to see it again. 

There was something Connor said… at the end. “Hurt himself… again?” 

The pit in his stomach grew a little heavier, but he staunchly ignored it. The burn of the cig was as good a coverup as any. 

Hank was actively glaring at Gavin when he walked back into the station. 

“Fuck crawled up your ass?” Gavin demanded, still too keyed up to give a shit that Hank’s rank actually meant something again. 

“Watch it, Detective,” Anderson muttered, voice pitched low and dangerous. 

Gavin huffed, ignoring the older man. He burned a little more of Hank's good grace from the weeks of him helping care for Gavin while he was down, everytime he picked at Connor. It wasn’t any skin off his back. Gavin hadn’t asked for their help after all. He didn’t owe the volunteers anything. 

Gavin and Connor were still work partners, Hank taking back over the supervisor type role the Lieutenant rank expected, rather then Fowler keeping him playing Detective. Gavin was secretly glad he wasn’t back out on those larger cases. He worried his first scene was going to have something to do with the Davis’.

Too bad his instincts were always fucking right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed a transition chapter! I promise these things will start to get a little longer. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uh…” A deeper voice hesitated over the line. “Gavin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need a distraction from this 2020 election and Gavin needs distraction sex, so here we are with two chapters in one week. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Gavin groaned, rolling over to paw for his phone. He caught the time, 2:44am, before answering the call. “Where the hell is it, Connor?” He demanded. 

“Uh…” A deeper voice hesitated over the line. “Gavin?”

Any sleep in Gavin’s veins evaporated in an instant. He jerked himself upright, phone in a death grip. He didn’t dare speak. 

“I know you don’t want to talk to me,” the voice whispered, cracking on ‘talk’. Gavin reached up, hand covering his eyes, bursting into tears at the hurt tone of his once lover. He just held back the sob out of sheer will. “But I… I need you to listen. Connor told… relayed what you said today. I… respect your decision.” 

Gavin grit his teeth, hearing  _ him _ sniffle. Like a human. It was enough to break Gavin from his spell. This wasn’t Nines calling back from the dead. This was the machine. 

“Don’t ever fucking call me again,” Gavin spat, ripping the phone from his ear and ending the call. He quickly back tracked through his caller log, blocking the number. Breathing heavy, far too keyed up now to even try going back to sleep, Gavin shimmied out from the middle of the bed and went to grab a glass of water. 

He stared at his phone, trying to calmly sip at the liquid. Hearing permission to date in the voice of his once lover… was still weirdly cathartic. He had a few women and men lined up on his phone that he never triggered on setting up a date or something more physical. 

Now after the brief call, he needed to get the growing energy out the only way he knew how. Only one name came to mind at this hour. 

He grabbed his phone, swiping down to  _ Melissa _ and hit call. 

“Hello?” It didn’t sound like she’d been asleep. It was a Friday, so an easy reason to stay up this late.

“Hey, Mel, it's Gavin,” he said, wincing at his tone of voice, higher than it normally would be.

“I have caller ID,” she said, giving a weak laugh. 

Gavin returned it, rubbing at the back of his neck just to have something to do. “Right, yeah… sorry.”

Awkward silence. 

“Hey, so I know it's late and all but--”

“Send me your address,” she cut him off. Gavin could hear the sound of cloth moving on her side of the call.

“That’s not what I--” Gavin felt like he had to save face, not wanting to come on too strong. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Mel insisted. “I’ve been waiting for you to call.”

“Yeah…? Cool. I’ll text you.”

“Awesome. See you soon, Gav,” she said, sweet, the balm Gavin really needed. 

“See you soon.”

His hands shook a little, excited to have… if he were being honest, a distraction. He quickly typed out his address and sent it. Mel sent back a heart emoji. 

Gavin looked around the place and ran like a man on fire to hide how much of a shit hole the place was. 

He was remaking the bed as a final touch when a soft knock came from the front door. 

Gavin ran into the bathroom real quick, doused himself in cologne and took a deep breath. “You’ve still got it,” he pepped himself. 

The knock came again, a little louder. 

“Shit!” 

Gavin swung the front door open a little faster than he meant to. “Sorry about that!” he wheezed. 

Melissa, her dirty blond hair tied back into a french braid, a beautiful dusting of freckles over her nose and cheeks that drew him to her in the first place. Her nose scrunched up a little when she smiled, making Gavin smile in return. 

“No worries! Can I come in?”

“Shit, yeah, of course,” he waved her in, catching himself staring at her ass as she walked into his apartment, hugged beautifully in the leggings she was wearing. “How uh, how was the ride over?” He asked, immediately feeling stupid for the word vomit. 

“Not too bad this late,” she said, looking around the space. “This is really nice, Gavin. What do you do, again?”

“Cop. Or well, Detective,” Gavin stumbled over himself. 

Melissa paused. “Is that why you see Dr. Rodriguez?” 

“I really don’t want to talk about that,” Gavin said, feeling a little off put by the question. 

Mel turned beet red, hiding behind her hand as she locked stray hairs behind an ear. “Oh, yeah, of course! Sorry, that was totally out of line.” 

Mel stood in his living room, the tension from equal verbal missteps hanging between them. 

“I should be honest,” Gavin started, walking up and past Mel, taking a seat on the couch. He patted the side, offering her the chance to sit with him. She did, thank fuck. Taking off her purse and setting it beside the coffee table, she sat opposite him, a healthy level of space between them as almost complete strangers. 

“Honest?”

“I’m not looking for anything serious,” he said, picking at a loose thread. 

Mel let out a breath Gavin hadn’t known she was holding. “Good. Me too.”

Gavin felt himself getting a little riled up, happy to know they were on the same page. “Cool… is there… anything off the table?”

“Sexually? Ummm… No ass stuff. Last guy was, excuse the pun, an ass about the whole thing and kinda threw me off it.”

Gavin shook his head, “no, that’s fine.” It wasn’t ok she’d had to go through it, but it wasn’t really a conversation to lead into the main event. 

“That’s the only big thing that comes to mind,” she said with a single shoulder shrug. “You?”

“Nope. Everything is kinda on the table,” Gavin said with a smirk, eyeing at her loose fitting tank top. 

Mel bit her lip in return, eyes hooding. She reached down, slowly toying with the edge of the thing. “Do you like to unwrap your own presents, Gavin?” She asked softly. 

“I don’t mind watching,” Gavin muttered, trying to keep his hands to himself. 

Mel led, biting her lip the whole time, she shimmied out of her shirt, revealing a lacy powdery pink bra. She didn’t have the largest tits Gavin had ever seen, but she was perfectly proportionate and Gavin appreciated that more. 

“Wanna help me with this?” She asked, taking the straps of her bra off her shoulders, letting them hang against her arms like a pin-up girl. 

Nodding like the dumb ape he was, Gavin shifted forward, reaching out for her. She giggled when he pulled her forward, putting the hours and hours of gym time to use. Mel straddled his lap perfectly, slotting up against his growing chub perfectly. He could feel her heat through his pajama pants, rutting up against her leggings that weren’t leaving a whole lot to the imagination. 

Gavin looked up into her beautiful brown eyes, surging up and kissing her. Mel moaned against him, doing that thing women did so easily, leaning her whole weight against him knowing she couldn’t hurt him. Gavin accepted the trust, reaching around to hold her close to him. The press of her breasts against his chest was a reminder of what led them to this. 

Prying her mouth open with his own, he reached up and grabbed at her braid, pulling and holding her in place. She playfully tried in vain to fight, both knowing how it was going to end for her. She slowly stopped, focusing on his other hand unclasping her bra. 

“Oh, fuck,” she hissed, Gavin releasing her mouth to lick and kiss against the column of her neck. He helped slide the bra down her arms, setting it down next to the couch. “Oh, shit, Gavin!” She arched against him, grabbing at his thin shirt when he bit her. Her reaction made him feel feral. 

Gavin grabbed her hips, shifting back on the couch to lay Melissa down, crowding over her. She ripped at his shirt, the message clear. He helped her take the thin material off, hovering as her hands explored in turn. 

“How sensitive?” She wondered, reaching up and twisting a nipple. Gavin bit most of the moan off, ducking down to rest his forehead against her shoulder. “Oh? Really?” She asked, playfully. Her other hand attacked his other nipple. 

He rutted up against her core, feeling the warmth there, recalling from past excursions what that wet heat did around his dick. “Fucking hell!”

“Shhh,” she grabbed at the back of his head, holding him there against her shoulder as her other hand played with him. “Is it too much?”

“No,” he growled, trying to hide his impatience. 

She rubbed her hand soothingly between each nipple, nibbling at his ear as she did. She hit a particularly sensitive spot, Gavin’s hips stuttering up against her. Mel arched, pushing herself up, both moaning at the limited friction. 

Gavin broke from her hold, cupping a breast in one hand, he returned the favor. Mel ran her hands through his hair, nails scraping pleasantly against his scalp. Bent over top of her, he licked and bit the nipple in his mouth, listening and watching. She didn’t seem to react a whole lot. 

Gavin let up, lightly pinching the wet flesh. “Not sensitive?”

Mel shrugged. “Not particularly…?” She seemed self conscious about it. 

“You can just say so,” Gavin assured, kissing at her throat again. “No big deal.”

“Yeah, ok,” she said, cupping the side of his face to bring him up for a full kiss. 

“Wanna move this to the bedroom?”

Mel nodded, biting her lower lip. Gavin wrapped a hand around her back, his other hand finding her ass. His back twinged a bit at the angle, lifting Mel up in one smooth motion. She squealed, hugging onto him as he walked them to the room. 

“Oh shit, no ones been able to lift me before,” Melissa whispered, her voice dropping down in appreciation. 

“Fuck, really? You’re light as shit,” Gavin protested, slowly lowering her down to the bed. “What kinda weak fuckers are you hanging out with?”

Mel's whole body laughed, slinging an arm to cover how her bare breasts moved with her chest, breathing a little heavy. 

Gavin slotted himself back between her legs, caging her head in with his forearms. “You still ok?”

Mel’s eyes shot up to his. “Yeah, of course.”

“Good. Cause Imma eat you the fuck out.”

“Oh, shit,” Mel hissed, eyes darting down to his lips for a moment. “I’d like to see you try.”

Challenge was a familiar strip of road Gavin loved to race down. He couldn’t help the deep throaty growl if he tried. He unwrapped her legs from around his hips, kissed down between her breasts. He kissed along the band of her black leggings, fingers playing with the damp spot growing against the material.

Mel’s breathing hitched every time his finger grazed that little bundle of nerves at the top, her legs twitching, unsure if they wanted to stay open or close off due to sensitivity. Gavin hated he was so impatient he couldn’t wait, towering over her, he practically ripped the material off her hips and down her long legs. 

Mel bit her finger, legs crossed in that ever so slightly teasing way, protecting herself from his eyes. He ran his fingers up smooth ankles, calves and thighs, to rest against her hips and the matching set of pink underwear she’d worn. Mel opened herself back up, making Gavin groan at the site. 

“Oh, shit,” he muttered, eyes locked on the thin stripe of wet cloth clinging against her. She was wearing a thong. Gavin’s ultimate weakness on any gender. 

“Like what you see?” She asked, that act of shyness coming off closer to coy cockyness. 

“I like it about as much as you’re about to,” Gavin said, kissing the inside of her knee. 

“Talking a real big game,” she said, reaching down, fingers slipping under the cloth. Gavin’s eyes watched like a hawk, the way she clearly started playing with herself, her hips twitching and legs splaying out a little wider. “Not gonna back it up?”

Gavin didn’t even waste time with removing the offending scrap of cloth. He knelt down to the floor, bringing her to him. Mel’s hand flew out from her underwear, an adorable squeak coming from her. “Gav--IN! Oh, my  _ God _ !” 

Gavin mouthed at her over the underwear, making damn sure that even when she left, she would remember who’d made her this fucking wet. Her clit was easy to find, gently brushing up against it over the cloth, careful to keep the contact light to prevent chafing. No one needed that shit. 

Her hand found his hair, grabbing and pulling a little. “Just like that,” she whispered, that tight little uptick in her voice meant he was back on this bike and riding it like the fucking Tour de France. 

When her hips moved to the side, trying to escape something he’d done that obviously didn’t feel the best, Gavin reached in, pulling the cloth to the side. They’d both had enough teasing. 

Women had this natural smell that drove Gavin fucking crazy. In previous male partners it was the musk, but this… was so different. It was something deep down, primal and fucking ready to pounce. Gavin shoved that little devil down a little, for now. Melissa took priority. 

Gavin licked up her slit, enjoying the pain as a few hairs were pulled out by force, Mel forgetting where her hand was. Gavin took pride in making his partners forget. He shifted, focusing his mouth and tongue over her clit and entered a single finger into her core slowly. He pulled his own sweat pants down with his other hand, taking only a moment to switch hands, the one covered in her slic now jerking himself off. Her warmth faded quickly from the natural lubricant, but his hand made up for it. His other hand took over, slowly rubbing up into the roof of her inner wall. Gavin knew the moment he hit her g-spot, grinning against her, he went at it like a man starved. 

Mel’s legs were single handedly trying to suffocate him as her pleasure started to peak, the lack of air driving Gavin closer to the edge himself. He had to stop jerking himself off or things would end way earlier than he wanted them to. His single minded mission did pay off, Mel going quiet, the tension in her muscles coming to a peak. 

“Oh, GOD,  _ GAVIN _ !” She screamed, coming up from the bed to bow over his head before slamming herself back down to twitch and convulse as her orgasm ripped through her. He didn’t dare stop his menstrations, only lightened them. Her walls twitched around his fingers, in time with her body. Only when she reached down and shoved him away by his forehead did he let her go. Her legs were lazily splayed open, breathing still erratic. He wiped at his face, a job well done. 

“Condom or no?” He asked, reaching over to the bedside table. He’d cleaned it out a long time ago to help with the grieving process. Nothing there to trigger him tonight. Nothing to distract from his currently well pleased partner. 

“No. I have an implant,” she said, rubbing her arm near her bicep. “I was clean last time I got tested and haven’t had a partner since.”

“Sounds good to me,” he muttered, coming back over top of her. “I’m uh… clean as well.”

“How sexy,” she muttered, bringing him down to kiss her. It was sweet, chaste. Gavin got lost in it till the tip of his dick lightly brushed against her inner thigh. 

“‘Bout time I took care of you, huh?” Mel muttered against his lips. “Think you can hold out for some head?”

Gavin’s hands involuntarily tightened on her shoulders. “I really don’t think so,” he admitted. “You have me all ready to go just from tasting you.”

Mel’s nose scrunched up, ducking away at his admittance. “I think that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard?” 

“Apparently the bar is on the fucking floor, Mel. I’m walking over it. You need better partners.”

Mellisa’s eyes opened big for a moment before she once again tilted back and laughed hard, her forehead ending up against his shoulder. “I guess so!”

“Here, move up a little, head against the pillows,” Gavin patted her hip. Mel looked up over her, using her arms and feet to push against Gavin, using him as leverage to properly position herself. She held her arms out when Gavin didn’t follow her, hands grabbing for him in the air. 

Gavin wasted no time slotting up against her, the underside of his cock wetting against the remnants of her orgasm and his own leftover spit. Mel moaned again, still a little sensitive. It never failed to amaze Gavin how quickly women could turn around and be ready for another round. 

Lifting her legs up, grabbing for her ass, he nearly split Mel in half, lining up and sinking into her warm wet heat. He nearly blew his load, Mel tightening up around him from her sensitivity. 

“Oh, fuck,” Mel and Gavin whispered together, both of them breaking into breathy little laughs. 

“Don’t go easy on me, Detective,” Mel ordered him. Gavin was sure it was more because he was balls deep in his first partner since… everything happened, but that was a really fucking sexy line. 

He repositioned them just a little, giving himself more space to pull out and snap back in. Gavin set a rough pace, already so close to the edge. He pulled out a few times, trying to buy some time. He slapped his cock against her clit, rubbing around, slipped back in, and repeated. 

“Just cum,” she muttered after his fifth time doing it. “You getting off will get me over the edge, I promise.”

“Shit, you sure?” Gavin asked, feeling bad for not having the stamina he thought he still held.

“Really, please, just fuck me like you mean it,” she said, her arms coming around his neck, pulling him down. 

Gavin rolled her a little further onto her back, grabbing onto her upper thighs and let himself go. He felt Mel reach down with one hand, rubbing her clit. 

She started to tighten around him, her sounds getting higher and higher pitched. Gavin groaned loudly, unable to hold back anymore. He stilled, spilling into her with everything he had. He desperately grabbed at her, trying to get as deep as possible to do the one thing this whole action was meant for. 

Melissa wasn’t far behind him, tightening around him and wiggling against him to get his softening dick to touch where she wanted. Gavin bit his lip, fighting against the growing sensitivity to give her just the last few waves of pleasure to push her back off the edge once again. Mel cried in ecstasy, Gavin grunting against her throbbing walls till he couldn’t handle it anymore, pulling out. They lay together, Gavin at her side, each trying to get their breath back. 

“Give me one sec,” Gavin patted her thigh, bouncing off the bed, rushing to the ensuite bathroom. He grabbed a rag, wet it, and made his way back. He cleaned Mel and the comforter from where some of his seed had spilled out, and threw the towel to the side. 

“Did you want me to stay or…?” Mel was up on her elbows, ready to make this as casual or intimate as Gavin wanted. 

“Just… kinda cuddle? For a little bit.”

Mel gave him a half smile, “sure, of course.” 

They moved to the larger dry side of the bed, away from the wet spot, Gavin bringing Mel close. She easily slotted against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Neither felt the need to add conversation to the lulled silence, content to lay in one another’s company. 

Melissa eventually hunted down all her clothes and kissed Gavin at the door, taking her leave. 

“Please text me when you get home,” Gavin said. “Or I might have to come looking for you.”

Mel winked. “Wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. Have a goodnight, Gav.”

“Night, Mel.”

He switched out the sheets and started a load of laundry. Grabbing a glass of water, he heard his phone buzz from the night stand. 

Shit Head [3:01]:  _ Gavin, meet me at 6401-- _

Gavin cursed, his phone lighting up with SHIT HEAD across the top with the incoming call.

“Fucking hell, Connor,” Gavin cursed into the receiver. “I was just reading your message.”

“Oh? Didn’t expect you to be awake,” Connor admitted. “Insomnia getting to you again?”

Gavin covered his eyes at the reminder of the first few months of recovery… how falling asleep with the meds left him emotionally raw from the vivid dreams. How his dreams weren’t better than reality. So he just tried to stop sleeping all together. 

“Fuck off, Connor. No. I had a hookup over. She just left,” Gavin admitted. 

Connor was deathly quiet on his end. “I sent the address. See you soon.”

Gavin sighed, pulling the phone from his ear. 

Melissa [3:03]:  _ Home! Thanks for tonight, really needed it _

Why did that pit in his stomach feel… bigger? Fuck it, Gavin shoved at it as he threw on a new outfit. He was only getting his rocks off, it seemed Mel was doing the same. Two consenting adults and all that jazz… just… why did it feel different?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo... Yeah? That's a thing... things happen, right? 
> 
> The investigation heats up next chapter. 
> 
> You ready?


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin turned slowly, closing the door with tembeling fingers. 
> 
> We’re sorry. We missed one thing, Gavin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We ready to get back into the more investigative part of this fic??
> 
> Don't worry, there is a little angest since this train is transcontinental with no stops XD

Gavin arrived at the scene, feeling all the tension that’d left his body after his short time with Mel coming back full force. Normally Connor would be waiting for him, ready to unload everything he’d already learned… but he was absent. 

Gavin wandered around the scene, waiting for the android to get the stick out of his ass about Gavin having a buddy over. After a solid five minutes, and some serious searching on Gavin’s part for those last two, Gavin peeked his head out of the house.

“Hey, Chris?” Gavin called over. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Chris called back. 

“Where’s Connor?”

“Oh, I thought he told you? Oh, well… he went back with the CSI team, found an important chip or something?”

Gavin pulled out his phone, the home screen coming up blank. The fucker had the phone in his head. It wouldn’t take him more than a second to compose and send Gavin a text. Was he avoiding Gavin? The idea set him even more on edge. 

“Thanks, Chris,” he muttered, walking back into the residence. 

The house didn’t stink, so more recent. Gavin saw the body, laying up against the wall where CSI was still taking photos from every angle for later review. He let them do their thing, gathering what he could from a distance. 

“Knife,” Chris said, slotting up next to Gavin. “Or that's what Connor said. Stabbed three times. Twice in the heart and once in the temple.”

“Forced entry?”

“Nah. They must have known one another. Stuff is broken in the kitchen, Connor said it started there. Where the person must have gotten the knife.”

Gavin paused, gazing at Chris. “Person? You only say that when there’s an android involvement.”

Chris paused his coffee mid sip. “Oh, do I? Weird.”

Gavin glared at him. “Was it an android or human?”

“Connor said it was… inconclusive.”

Gavin fully turned to him. “He said the word ‘inconclusive’?” 

Chris nodded, as shocked as Gavin was. “Crazy to hear him say the word too, promise.”

“Fucker just leaves me here with this shit,” Gavin mumbled to himself. Gavin felt his heart rate increase, hands going sweaty. He had a real bad feeling this scene had something to do with the Davis brothers... 

The pit in his stomach was back full force. Gavin wandered around the house, searching for what was quickly becoming an elusive scrap of paper. 

His heart stopped when he saw it. Tucked up under the lip of the toilet in the guest bathroom. Gavin had only glanced, but there it was. He would have missed it if he wasn’t looking for it. 

“Shit head should have scanned in here. How the hell--?” Gavin cursed to himself, walking into the cramped space on shaky knees. He slowly picked up the lid, the note sticking to the inside. Gavin ignored his shaking hands, flipping the lid carefully. 

“Fucking, damnit!”

“Gavin?!” Chris called from the other room, concerned. 

“It's nothing!” Gavin assured, ripping at the little piece of toilet paper that was stuck there for who knows how long ago. He put the ceramic toilet top back, leaning his weight against it. He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down. “Just a normal scene, Gavin,” he whispered to himself. “Nothing to do with those fuckers.”

He turned to the still intact mirror, grooming himself back into the perfect disaster. His stomach dropped again, seeing something on the back of the door. Black lines. No. Text. Black text written on the back of the door. Gavin turned slowly, closing the door with tembeling fingers. 

_ We’re sorry. We missed one thing, Gavin. _

Gavin froze, the sink digging into his lower back, trying to put distance between himself and the familiar message. Breathing coming in fast short gasps, something moving outside in the kitchen caught his attention, breaking the spell. He ripped the door open, running out. 

“Gavin?!” Chris repeated his shout in alarm. 

Gavin fell down the stairs of the house, forgetting they were there. The hyperventilation coupled with the loss of breath turned his stomach. He rushed up to his forearms, throwing up the partially digested food from dinner. He coughed, heaving, the words in black burned onto the back of his eyelids. 

“Gavin?! GAVIN! What’s wrong?!” Chris was patting him on the back. 

Gavin knew he was making a scene, but that fucking… It shouldn’t be there! They had to be done! They caught almost all of them! What the fuck could the feds have possibly missed?!

“Bathroom,” Gavin wheezed, getting up on his knees, rubbing at his chin. 

“You heard him! Go take a look!” Chris ordered someone. “Gavin, are you ok? Should I call Connor back?”

He shook his heads. “The FBI. This is The Reformers Cult.”

“I can make the call,” Chris assured, helping Gavin to his feet. “Come on, let's get you out of the line of sight.”

Gavin scanned the scene, the local media out in force. They were vultures, following Gavin around all the time. Since the news broke of The Reformers Cult and the political and legal fallout of the investigation between human and newly dried ink on android law, Gavin and the now deceased Nines were at the heart of it. Gavin ignored the media as best he could, but still they trailed after him, as if he signed up to be the local celebrity for being raped by the shell of a once deviant android. 

He let Chris lead, sitting down in the passenger's side of the black and white. Chris called in the find. 

_ “What exactly did it say?” _ Connor’s voice suddenly came over the frequency. 

_ “We’re sorry. We missed one thing, Gavin.” _ Gavin repeated, reading the lines off the back of his eyelids. “Big black letters. How the fuck did you miss it?!”

_ “I do apologize, Gavin. Give me a moment to call Hank? He’s with Nines right now.” _ Connor said back.

Gavin’s breathing stopped once more, thoughts crashing to a halt. Oh God… what if they already had him again?! He must be at the house, vulnerable. 

Gavin grabbed at Chris, “take me to Hank’s!” He ordered.

“Gavin! You can’t just--! We’re at a scene that still needs to be--”

“Please!” 

Chris bit his lip, seeing the desperation in Gavin. “Ok. Seatbelt, though.”

Gavin growled, clicking the pesky thing into place, Chris flipping on his lights and siren, heading straight for Hank’s home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Nines ok? Have the Davis brothers gotten to him already, so soon after being awakened? 
> 
> Tune in next week to find out!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Exactly,” Kelston said, cocking a hip. “I already have the clearance to add you directly to the team. Full time. You would become a member of the FBI, though. No need to use the DPD as a mediary, this time. What do you say?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome back!
> 
> Nothing to really add here, please enjoy!

Nines was laying on top of Sumo, keeping most of his weight off the aging dog. He turned ten next year. For dogs of Sumo’s size, that was very old. Nines didn’t think of the implications of mortal flesh, burying his head further against the coarse fur to distract himself from his cycling thoughts. 

Still living with Connor and Hank, he searched idly for a place of his own for when he did get his head out of his ass and was forced to take the invasive tests by New Jericho’s demands. Unable to work without clearance and unwilling to go through the tests to get said clearance, he still stood in limbo to a source of income. 

His calling Gavin earlier, from this very position, was toeing the line the man he loved had set. It was a selfish need he acted upon. He felt he needed to say it, as much as Gavin obviously didn’t want to hear from him. For Nines it was a final goodbye. His own coming to terms with what’d happened being irreparable. 

To draw out their pain together, force the trauma back to the surface for Gavin after everything he endured wasn’t something Nines could handle. Maybe if Nines had been restored right from the start, things could have come together again. Nines would have fought tooth and nail to make it work. In this reality though, too much time had passed and Gavin was past him. It was time that Nines did the same as well.

Nines heard a police siren, not minding the distant wail till it got worrisomely closer and closer. He perked up, getting to his feet when it turned down Hank’s dead end street. There was a 99% chance it was for him. He ripped the door open before the humans could open the car doors. 

It was Chris and… Gavin. Gavin’s eyes, the mint green so familiar through all the crystal clear memories and footage he had from almost seven months ago. They were filled with tears, the man collapsing to his knees seeing Nines standing in the doorway, hands quickling covering his face as he started to sob. 

“Oh, thank God,” Chris muttered, coming up from the car to the front door. Nines wasn’t sure how to react between the two. “Nines? Is anyone in the house with you?” He asked, hand reaching back for his service weapon. 

“Hank and the dog,” Nines assured quickly, raising his hands into the air to assure the human he wasn’t a threat. “What happened? Why are you here?”

Chris peered over his shoulder to Gavin, still sobbing on the ground. “Um… Let me take care of him real quick. I’ll explain.”

Nines nodded, walking back into the house, the door left ajar. He hadn’t expected to see either of them, but especially Gavin. He wasn’t sure why Gavin was crying, it twisted something deep in Nines’ wires to see the man reduced to fear. For him. He wasn’t sure what to do with that information. What Gavin was saying and his actions conflicted. 

“Nines?” Hank asked groggily from the hallway. “What’s going on?”

“Officer Miller and Detective Reed--” The title felt like poison on his tongue, “-- have come to check on me. I haven’t been told why yet.”

“Shit, seriously?” Hank ducked back into his room to get dressed. 

Officer Miller peered in, still seeming nervous. 

“Please, Hank is the only one here and he is getting dressed, I promise.”

He stood before Hank’s recliner across from Nines, the perfect place to see most of the house. “We got another message from the cult,” he said, reaching into his pocket for his phone. 

Nines didn’t remember getting to his feet, but when he came back to himself, he was standing, shaking, synthetic adrenaline running rampant through his Thirium. “Excuse me?”

“The cult?” Hank demanded from the hallway, looking a little more put together. “Where the fuck--? How the fuck--? The fuck those fuckers say?” 

“Yeah… Gavin found it. Not on paper this time, back of a door of a murder victim that didn’t seem relat--”

“I’m not working for the DPD anymore, Officer Miller,” Nines warned, even as his systems ran preconstructions of what it was he was about to say. “Was the FBI notified?”

He nodded. “Gavin gave the order. Gavin… wanted to come make sure you were ok. That they hadn’t gotten ahold of you.”

Nines patted his chest, “still here,” he muttered, the joke falling flat at his tone. 

Chris still gave him a forced smile. “Good.”

Another knock at the door. Nines scanned to see two familiar body signatures on the other side. “You beat the FBI,” Nines congratulated Chris, walking to the door. 

Special Agent Kelston Fosters and Agent Geanna stood there, both looking equally as worried. Geanna had more of a physical reaction to seeing Nines than Kelston did. The human was used to seeing the biological marks, his hind brain working faster than his frontal lobes, processing Nines as a fellow human, despite the fact. Geanna’s smile was forced as Nines waved them both through into the home.

“This is Officer Chis Miller. You both know Lieutenant Anderson.”

“Hello, Hank, good to see you again,” Kelston reached out and the humans shook hands. “Wish it were under better circumstances.” 

“Same, Fosters. Same. What’d ya got for us?”

“Looks like one of Robert Davis’s kidnapped androids came out of hiding a few hours ago, the murderer, to leave Gavin another note.” 

“Well, Connor is back at--” Nines started but Geanna cut him off by raising her hand. 

“We came here for you, Nines. We need you to come back to the team. We can’t do it without you.”

Nines sighed, a jolt of happiness running through his systems. Till the pesky Jericho testing reared its ugly head. He grit his teeth, having to tell the agents the same thing. “I can’t.”

Kelston crossed his arms over his chest. “Can’t? Or won't?”

“Cannot,” Nines said, giving the man a forlorn glare. “New Jericho won’t clear me for work, after all the new systems were added. They are worried about a kill switch or any other lingering codes in my software that can be used to hurt the people around me. I’ve so far refused--”

“Good. You’re refusing,” Kelston waved a hand in the air. “We have higher clearance than the local police, obviously. We don’t need New Jericho’s sign off for you to join back up with us.”

Nines felt a little gobsmacked. “I don’t?”

“We were hoping to capture the android in the act,” Geanna filled in. “But they are much like you are now. Fully retrofitted and with your newer operating system. Faster, deadlier versions of themselves. We think Robert did a full system reset on them after our finding you this last time. They truly have been robbed of everything. The only thing we have in defense of these androids, is you.”

Hank snorted. “Well shit.”

“Exactly,” Kelston said, cocking a hip. “I already have the clearance to add you directly to the team. Full time. You would become a member of the FBI, though. No need to use the DPD as a mediary, this time. What do you say?”

Nines wasn’t expecting all this at five in the morning. “I-- I don’t know what-- I…” It would be a source of money. He could finally get out of Hank and Connor’s way. Move into his own place after a few paychecks were under him. The DPD would suffer, but Connor would always be there. The state of Michigan would be better off with Nines as a part of its FBI.

So would Gavin.

There would be no looming start date for either of them to dread. No need to avoid one another or for one party to continue the path of denial they set themselves down. This would make things so much easier. 

“I would love to,” Nines agreed quietly. 

“Perfect! HR opens up at eight. If you want, we can head back now and get started on bringing you up to speed.”

“Let me go get dressed,” Nines said, excusing himself to the back of the house for the garage where he’d been keeping his stuff. He rifled through his shirts, unable to help the smile tugging at his lips. 

The cult might be back, but Nines was ready. He’d promised Gavin a lifetime ago to kill who ruined their night, at the time. He had so many more reasons now to exact revenge and he had every intention of following through with his promise. 

He tried not to think about how Gavin simply sat in Chris’ DPD issued vehicle the whole time. How Christ drove off without saying goodbye. It was better this way, he assured himself. Less messy.

Geanna had left with Chris, to Nines’ surprise. She was to meet up with Connor at the station to get all the information from both him and Gavin to add to The Reformers Cult database the FBI team had been building. 

Kelston grabbed breakfast to fill for the early morning call. Their banter was light and not on any one topic with weight. Weather, catching up on personal stuff (that Nines lied about) and some other lighter team dynamics. 

“You and Detective Reed still together?” Kelston asked around a mouthful of his egg sandwich.

The sudden heavy question threw the android for a loop. Nines squinted, taking in the human’s increased heart rate and perspiration levels. He was nervous of Nines’ answer. 

Nines’ eyes dropped to the growing pile of crumbs in the human’s lap. “No. He had time to move on over the last half-year, while Connor searched for a way of implementing the secret hard drive. Thank you, by the way.”

Kelston shrugged. “Was all Geanna and Connor. Thank them.”

Nines nodded, looking out the windshield, watching morning commuters on their ways to their destinations. “I’ll have to remember to tell her.”

“I am sorry to hear about that. You and Gavin. He uh… really loved you.”

Nines bit his lip, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Shit. Yeah, of course. Sorry,” Kelston muttered, wiping the crumbs from his pants leg to the footwell. “So. We honestly haven’t made much headway in the investigation since you’ve been down. Robert and John went into hiding and finding them has been one hell of a chase. John is well connected in the underground gangs and markets. Looks like his business was nothing more than a shell company to money launder for those assholes. Being from a rather affluent family, no one thought to check receipts. Taxes were being paid and that’s all the IRS cared about. Fuckers.”

“So both brothers are hiding under the buddies they’ve made?” Nines clarified. Kelston nodded, balling the wrapper in his fist. 

“Exactly. We are playing a massive game of whack a’ mole with these assholes. The more we dig, the closer we get, they throw an overwritten android at us and throw off their scent. This morning’s murder was just that. We have to allocate resources to search for what might have been left behind. It gives them hours to change tactics and divert into another cubby hole we’ll have to sniff out.”

“How interesting…” Nines muttered, flexing some algorithms that’d been getting dusty over the months of having nothing to do. “How many other teams have you been working with?”

“DEA, CIA, other internal teams that are working in tandem with us to clean up the gangs and black markets we are breaking apart on our way to get to them. The heat is starting to push them into the light. There aren’t many who are still willing to protect them.”

“Brute force doesn’t seem like you?” Nines teased.

Kelston rubbed at his eyebrows, sighing. “It's those androids they retrofitted. Fighting against you is exhausting,” he peered at Nines from under his hand with a wane smile. “Must say, the engineers should, and will, rot in those jail cells for the rest of their lives for what they did, but they knew exactly what they were building.”

Nines snorted. “Yeah… it's been fun.”

“I read over everything they… added,” Kelston said, turning the paper wrapper into a ball in his hand. “I do like the facial hair. Makes you look more refined.”

Nines reached up quickly, his mind so cluttered with the morning activities, he hadn’t had the intrusive thoughts about the five o’clock shadow coming in. “Thanks,” he said, feeling a little awkward. “Not quite used to it yet.”

“Do you umm… “ Kelston’s hand circled at the wrist, hoping Nines would fill in the blanks for him. 

“Remember? I remember everything they forced me to do,” Nines didn’t hold back the biting edge to his voice. “I remember sitting in Hank’s kitchen, couch, garage for months. All the dead time. I was a machine. I was told to sit and be good. I didn’t know any better,” Nines hit his knee, needing an outlet for his pent up rage. 

“Ok, ok,” Kelston held up his hands. “It’s all over, Nines.”

“No, it isn’t,” Nines said, gripping his leg. “I almost wish Connor hadn’t tried so hard,” he whispered, unsure why he was sharing this part. Kelston’s heart rate spiked. 

“What?”

“I remember  _ everything _ . I know what I had. When I was the machine… I didn’t. It was simply performing orders I had no context for. Raping Gavin was no different than washing Hank’s cup and it burns me to say that. Now? Now… I know what I missed. How much time I missed. That… Gavin moved on without me.”

Kelston’s hand landed heavily on his shoulder, pulling him over the center console and into his shoulder. Nines held no power over the tears, feeling as out of control as always with this new body at the simple show of comradery. He pulled himself together quickly. This was basically a job interview. He was being unprofessional, a failure due to the rampant hormones. 

He pushed out of the human’s hold. “I’m sorry,” he said, sniffling. 

“Don’t ever apologize. If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

Nines gave him a half grin, “thanks, Kelston.”

“No problem. Now, let's get that paperwork signed, huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone's got a job~
> 
> ... and maybe something more?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Gavin,” Connor said crisply. “We have a B&E. High priority. We need you at the address I sent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~! Welcome back for this instalment of Gavin being a little shit!
> 
> Enjoy!

Gavin scrunched his nose, Melissa bursting out into hysterical laughter as her finger quickly retreated. He grinned, catching her eye, he tried to reach up with his tongue to the dollop of whipped cream left on his nose. She watched, giggling the whole time.

He got some of it, twisting his head to try in vain to get more of it. 

“Oh my God, Gavin, you are going to hurt yourself!” Mel reached forward, hopping into his lap as she did. She licked from his chin to his nose, Gavin groaned openly as she cleaned her sweet mess from his nose. 

“Come on, babe,” Gavin muttered, patting her hip. They’d had their fun already, Gavin still naked, Mel at least had a shirt on. 

She went slack in his lap, trying to use her weight against him. “No, you come on, Gav!”

“Did you want me to stay?” Gavin asked, hesitating on the side of her bed. Mel bit her lip, eyes dropping. 

“Kinda?” She said after a moment. 

“Kinda?” Gavin said, abandoning the idea of dressing, hands coming up to rub patiently at her hips.

“Well, yeah,” she rolled her eyes, as if he should have been able to read her mind. “I want you to stay tonight. You have tomorrow off, don’t you?”

“I do,” Gavin grabbed for his jeans regardless, grabbing for his phone. “I’m still on call though, so let me just--” He had several missed calls from Connor, along with a texted address. “Fuck.”

Mel sagged, knowing something was up. “What?”

Gavin growled in frustration. “Work.”

“Seriously?” Mel asked, coming to prop herself against his shoulder. “Can’t you just… not pick up?”

Connor’s caller ID came back across the top of the home screen. Mel scrunched her nose at  _ Shit Head.  _

“Seriously, Gav?” She said, a hint of disappointment hurting something deep in Gavin he didn’t want to think about. “Who is that?”

“My partner. Hold on,” Gavin moved out from under her hold, Mel giving in, laying back on her bed with a resigned sigh. He pulled his pants on real quick, refusing to talk to Connor without being partially dressed. “Reed.”

“Gavin,” Connor said crisply. “We have a B&E. High priority. We need you at the address I sent.”

“High priority? Who is it?”

“CyberLife.”

“Fucking shit,” Gavin cursed, turning in place in search of his shirt. “Why do I have a feeling this has something to do with those shitty ass brothers?” Nothing had come up since the murder and message combo, the FBI once more sniffing around Detroid streets in their renewed hunt with the machine once on their team. Not that Gavin had been searching for any information anyone had been willing to offer him or anything. 

“It sounds like you are at Melissa's? See you in ten minutes,” Connor cut the line. 

“Fucking androids,” he muttered, entering back into Mel’s room. “Hey, high priority break in they need me at. Need to get down there.” 

“Nothing I can do to keep you here?” Mel said, arching herself across the bed, naked breasts coming up from under her shirt. 

“Sorry, babe,” Gavin said through a moan, climbing up onto the bed to kiss her. “Duty calls.”

Mel grabbed at him, kissing him a little harder. Her worried brown eyes caught his. “Stay safe, ok?”

Gavin chuckled. “Of course.”

*

Connor was on the sidewalk, hands behind his back waiting patiently as Gavin parked among all the other present cop cars. Gavin groaned, the humid summer air not diminishing at the early morning hours. 

“Why the fuck do they always have to do this at night?”

“Humans have a hard time seeing in low light,” Connor helpfully supplied. 

“Fuck off, Connor. It was rhetorical and you know it,” Gavin pulled up next to him, lighting up a cig, forcing them to stay away from the scene just a little longer. “Find anything?”

Connor glared at the offending stick, taking a noticeable step back. “No. Android involvement is highly likely but inconclusive.”

“Due to the upgraded androids running around?”

Connor didn’t answer right away, meaning Gavin hit the nail on the head. “I’m currently running a comparison search of what I’ve cataloged and what was in the stores last inventory chart.”

“Fucking androids,” Gavin repeated the sentiment, snuffing out the cig early. The fucker wasn’t helping his jitters. “Ok, cool. Let me know when you’re done with that.”

Connor stayed at his side the whole time Gavin walked through the scene. The android had gotten an ear full from Fowler about following CSI all the way back to the station without properly completing his normally thorough sweep of a crime scene. The hard drive he’d been so worried about had the same message, highly encrypted. A show of force and to waste their time. Connor had apologized by buying Gavin lunch the next day.

Gavin searched over the CyberLife store in the present. He wasn’t looking for notes. This wasn’t the normal scene for where notes were left. There always had to be blood for words to appear. Gavin was convinced Robert jerked off in the corner whenever the androids were doing his dirty business for him. The ultimate high, controlling a machine to do the horrible deed to another human. Fucker was sick. The whole family was.

“Done cataloging what was stolen?” Gavin asked when he was done. 

“Three androids worth of parts,” Connor answered promptly. Fucker must have had it done forever ago and didn’t want to interrupt Gavin. “And fifty gallons of Thirium.” 

“Geeze. Guess the androids are in need of repair?”

“It’s hard to say. Repairs wouldn’t have a need for full sets of parts.” 

“They have been on the run for over eight months now… makes sense to grab what they could and then some. How many androids are expected to be with them, still?”

That took Connor a moment. 

“Five,” a deeper voice answered from behind. 

Gavin glared at the taller FBI agent standing in the middle of the broken glass. The set to his brows gave Gavin the impression he wouldn’t be above thinking the Detective had done all this to the store. “This is now under our jurisdiction. Connor, if you could transfer everything to Geanna? That would be wonderful.”

“Hello to you too, Agent Fosters,” Connor said, mood souring. 

“How is Hank doing?” He asked. A household model Gavin remembered being advertised all over Detroit only two years prior stepped out, skin peeling back. Connor reached out and connected with her. 

“He’s doing well, thank you for asking.”

The machine came up next to the taller agent, its ice blue eyes wandering around the space in much the same manner Connor did when scanning a scene. “Everything looks to be secure. Thank you for your time, Detectives.”

Gavin couldn’t meet its eyes, feeling them burn into the crown of his head as he looked down at his shoes.

“Come on, Gavin,” Connor grabbed his upper arm. “We need to clear out.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gavin let the android lead him away. He only looked over his shoulder in time to see Agent Fosters reaching up and patting the machine's shoulder. The smile the machine gave the Agent made something ugly twist in Gavin’s stomach. 

He angrily stomped it back down. Deep, deep down. He didn’t care. This was the whole point. 

“Let me stay home next time you think it has anything to with Davis’,” Gavin grumbled to Connor. “You can lock down a scene by yourself. No point dragging me out here for twenty minutes while they get their asses out of bed.”

“Yeah,” Connor was stiff, awkwardly standing between both the machine and Gavin, trying to block his line of sight. “I will keep that in mind. Have a good rest of your night, Gavin.”

“Yeah, you too, shit head.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “NINES!” Kelston shouted out in rage. “What the hell are you DOING?!”
> 
> “Pursuit!” Nines shouted back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey~ Ready for some action???

“That was good,” Kelston patted Nines’ shoulder in sympathy. “Geanna? Did Connor find anything?”

“Some files are hard for me to read,” Geanna admitted, hand already reaching for Nines. “My software suite wasn’t made with the reconstruction abilities. Only preconstruction.” 

Nines reached out easily, taking his colleagues' offered hand. Charcoal gray met stark white. The information transfer was slower than Nines was used to, in comparison to Connor. Geanna did her best, getting him the full package Connor sent her without corruption. He quickly unpacked it all, looking over the broken glass, toppled display cases and what looked like a try at arson to cover any tracks. It was all meant to look like humans had done it. 

Connor had taken it all into account, the androids responsible leaving out the back door. Nines tisked. Gavin had come onto the scene before Connor had finished the job. Nines walked towards the door, doing another quick scan. There wasn’t even a small layer of dust on the ground to disturb, the android that ran this store could see better than any human and did its job diligently. 

“Find anything?” Kelston said from the doorway. 

Nines ignored him, still scanning through the back room. All the items that Connor had cataloged as missing were indeed gone. Each positive match of a stolen item raised his dopamine another half point upward. He had to hide the smile by biting his lower lip, keeping focused on the scene. 

He reconstructed, seeing three androids leap frogging around one another, grabbing and stuffing the biocomponents into large backpacks. Something happened in the reconstruction. Once they had everything and they were trying to set the store on fire, something spooked them. They all seemed to freeze, looking around, as if hearing something. They all scuttled to a back doorway that obviously had movement behind it currently and the flames never took. Too scared to finish what had been started, but non-deviant in being unable to leave without express permission in the face of an uncompleted task. 

Nines calmly walked back towards Kelston. He quietly pointed with his head back out into the open store floor. 

“Find something?” Kelston asked loudly, stressing Nines out that he couldn’t take a hint. 

Nines shot a single finger to his lips, pointing back towards the store floor again. “They are still here,” he said quietly when they were out of earshot, Geanna joining them. “Get the beat cops to guard the back of the store. I’ll flush them out.”

Kelston and Geanna’s eyes both went wide. “Shit, seriously?” Kelston whispered back.

“I suggest you put on your bulletproof vests,” Nines said, grabbing for the gun he was issued last week. “They look to be armed.”

“Ok. Wait for my command, Nines,” Kelston ordered, heading back out to his car with Geanna. Their rushed footsteps were enough of a give away to the hiding android’s that they’d been outed. 

It’s exactly what Nines didn’t want. 

Nines took aim at the first android who slammed the door to their hiding place wide open, sprinting across the back, constructing the best shot between all the shelving. Disobeying a direct order in his first scene probably wasn’t the smartest thing for job security, but the androids needed to be captured. 

His shot landed perfectly at the cerebral connection in the white plated neck. The android went down with a garbled shout, sliding to a stop just before they got away. Two more androids sprinted over their partners body and out the back door successfully. The second and third shots Nines popped off hit home in the same place on the first androids companions, but the androids didn’t falter. When the bullets hit, synth skin gave way to a similar charcoal gray chassis to Nines’ own. 

“NINES!” Kelston shouted out in rage. “What the hell are you DOING?!”

“Pursuit!” Nines shouted back, taking off into the back of the store and out the back door. He slammed up into the brick wall of the business next door. He pushed off the wall, going right. He followed after the other two, till they split. Gritting his teeth at the worst case scenario playing out, he communicated to Geanna where he thought the one he wasn’t going to pursue was headed. He continued to dash after the other one. 

It presented male, breathing heavily and sweating, same as Nines. They were as equally modified as he was. Only, their base models were far different. They didn’t have the capacity for the increase in Thirium he did. Nines could function like an android, even as the synthetic adrenaline flooded his systems, his Thirium pump kept up as he pushed his limbs to move faster. 

Nines was thankful that it was the middle of the night, the sidewalks and roads clear. Hurting pedestrians was a low priority in the face of catching the android but he was thankful to not need to process it. The android had no sense of self preservation, running straight into streets and through narrow alleyways. Nines didn’t hesitate, knowing that the android could easily crack the whereabouts of the brothers and the cult. 

The android started to weaken, systems overheating from prolonged running with what Nines’ systems helpfully supplied was near four hundred pounds in the backpack shifting side to side, making its processors work harder to keep it on its feet. 

It got held up behind a high chain link fence, systems too hot to run the proper calculations fast enough. Nines jumped onto the android’s back, ripping the flimsy straps of the backpack to get to it. 

“You are under arrest!” Nines shouted into its ear. “You have the rig-- Shit!”

The android went limp in his hold, fingers still wrapped around the metal fence. The sound of hissing coming from its head echoed in the quiet alleyway. Nines dropped it, backing away. The android's head fell back, body still suspended where he tried to get away. The back of its synthetic skull slowly fizzled away, acid spilling from its nose and mouth and hissing against the dirt and trash on the cement. 

Nines couldn’t help himself, not with his new systems. He kicked the legs of the android, pissed. The action was enough to dislodge the dead android, the crashing of the body loud. He should have known that Robert wouldn’t let these androids out without a fail safe! He reached out to Geanna. 

_ They are full of acid, be careful. _

_ It’s ok. I lost him, he was too fast. _

_ Don’t worry, _ he sent her his location at the same time he sent it to Kelston. 

The team showed up ten minutes later, all in different states of horror at what was left of the android. 

“Do we have anything to clean it up?” Kelston demanded, pissed. 

The whole team glanced at Nines who ignored them. 

“We need to test what it is exactly,” Elgan spoke up. “That’ll depend on how we clean it up.”

“Get hazard out here. Nines? Please follow me.”

The team quietly watched the pair leave. Kelston opened the door to his car, taking the driver seat. Nines assumed he wanted him to take the passenger, entering the car. It dipped under his weight comically, but neither laughed. The air was tense, Nines tapping his fingers against his thigh, unable to handle the growing anxiety without some kind of movement. 

“Did you do it to protect me and Geanna?” Kelston asked, voice tight. 

“No. I had all intentions of including you both in the capture. I know my limits, Kelston. I can’t capture three androids by myself and the worst of my preconstructions came true, them splitting mid chase.”

Kelston pinched the bridge of his nose. “You disobeyed a direct order, Nines.”

“For the better of the mission,” Nines balked. “Should I have just stood there and let them get away?” 

Kelston threw his hand into the air, glaring at him. “Nines! If everyone on the team did what they thought was the best for the mission, I wouldn’t have a  _ team _ !”

Nines shut up, glaring out the windshield. 

“Thank you for your concern,” Kelston’s tone came down, calming. “We still have a body back at the store to look at.”

“CSI can handle it. Geanna and Elgan can get everything they need from it,” Nines said, sagging in his seat. “I shot it in the right place to keep the processors working.”

Kelston raised a single brow. “Tired?”

“New systems,” Nines agreed, grabbing at his shirt, drenched in sweat derived from the water in his Thirium. “They simulate many human-like reactions that are… taxing on my original systems.”

“So… are you tired?” Kelston asked, confused. 

Nines chuckled. “Yes. My systems need more Thirium to replenish the water I lost running for so long.”

“We can get you some, no worries,” Kelston said. “Can you wait a little longer?”

Nines waved a hand in the air. “Sure.”

“Be right back.”

Nines watched Special Agent Fosters calmly return to the team, talking with them about clean up. Nines’ eyes slipped closed. All his systems were back to normal, a little warning on his HUD alerting him to the thirty four percent Thirium replenishment needed. The sweating, the heavy breathing was all involuntary, messy. The adrenaline burning his systems further than he’d ever experienced, left him physically exhausted, past what a replenishment could fix. He needed a good night's sleep. 

He startled a little, Kelston slipping back into the car. “Oh, shit, sorry. Fell asleep?”

Nines sat up, having slipped down in his seat. “I think so?”

Kelston snorted, starting up his car. “Come on. You’ve done what you can. I can drive you back home, if you’d like?”

Nines reached for the vents of the air conditioning, pointing a few his way. 

“Shit, sorry. If you needed it, you should have said,” Kelston said, fiddling with the settings to cool the air faster.

Nines shook his head. “I forget what I need now too. Don’t worry about it. Home--” Nines thought back to Hank and Connor’s. He hadn’t gotten his first paycheck yet but was dying to get out from under Connor’s constant concern. His mother_hen.exe was obnoxious and Nines was going to rip his Thirium pump out again just on principle. 

“Not home?” Kelston asked after the long pause. “Everything ok?”

“Big brother problems,” Nines admitted. “He’s been… more overbearing than usual, with me back in a dangerous working environment.”

“Thought of getting a place of your own?” Kelston asked, sitting back in his seat, driving the car manually. 

“No money, yet. Hank and Connor gave what I’d saved before to Gavin and… I’m not taking it back from him.”

“That’s... weirdly sweet of you,” Kelston rubbed at his growing five o’clock shadow. “I think if my savings was given to my ex, I’d punch him in the dick then set everything he purchased with it on fire.”

Nines raised a brow. “Mature.”

Kelston shrugged. “Guy has more than that coming for him.”

“Guess it didn’t end on great terms?”

Kelston seemed to wrestle with himself, reaching to the car's dash to switch it to autonomous. “He cheated on me,” he admitted through a sigh. “Said the long hours and constant needs of the team gave him a lot of… free time. Eyes wonder, hiding texts is easy when one partner isn’t around most the day…” He was pinching the bridge of his nose again. “Didn’t know till I went home early to surprise him. Caught them in bed together.”

It was a similar sounding story to Gavin’s difficulty with past relationships, if Nines was honest. “Yeah. I think me and Gavin only worked because we occasionally got days off together and we worked similar set schedules. And we saw each other in passing at work.”

“Thought about moving on?” Kelston asked, fingers still resting against his nose. 

“No,” Nines admitted, fiddling with his fingers. “I’ve only been back about two months. It's all still fresh. I don’t… I need more time.”

“Makes sense,” Kelston assured.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> North’s brows raised at the rose on the bar table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> North is back, back again~

“You know Agent Fosters has a crush on you, right?”

Hank choked from the living room, banging on his chest to dislodge the pizza bite he’d inhaled. Nines himself was midway through swallowing Thirium. Thank god he still couldn’t choke. 

“Yes. I’m aware,” Nines bit out, refusing to meet his brother's eyes.

Connor wavered. “You haven’t shut him down.”

Nines glared, upset by the line of questioning. “I know.”

Connor bit the inside of his cheek. “I don’t understand why you would do that when Gavin is--”

“He isn’t, Connor,” Nines stood, two inches taller than Connor, he used it to his full advantage. “ _ Stop _ bringing him up. We are  _ over _ . Let both of us move on. Let. It. Go.”

Connor’s nostrils flared but he didn’t add anything. Nines moved around him, joining Hank on the couch. He knew Hank was on his side, needing the quiet glance the older man gave him, patting him on the shoulder in reassurance. 

Connor called Sumo and the two went outside, leaving Nines alone with Hank. 

“I know he’s been a real pain about all of this,” Hank said, taking a swig of his low percentage alcoholic drink. “I’m sorry you have to deal with it.”

“I like to think that it would be better if he didn’t care,” Nines admitted. “But I know the machine would still be sitting in your kitchen chair if that were the case.”

Hank gave him a sidelong look, taking a bite of his pizza. “When are you planning on telling him you’re moving out?”

Nines shot him a look. “Is it that obvious?”

“Sometimes the worst people you can live with are siblings,” Hank said, as if he had any experience as a single child. “And also it’s my job to know.”

“Does he know?”

“I think so,” Hank said, peering around Nines to see if Connor was coming back in or not. “He just doesn’t want to admit it to himself yet. He wants to keep a close eye on you. Seeing you… seeing you try to kill yourself twice… it was really hard on him. He blames himself.”

Nines nodded slowly. “I do regret my actions.”

“Me too kid,” Hank raised his can. “Cheers to that.”

  
  


*

Nines woke suddenly from his mandated need for sleep, noting the time as four on the dot,  _ North _ popping up insistently on his HUD. He picked up the call. 

“North?”

_ “Hey, Nines,” _ her voice was light, happy.  _ “Were you in stasis?” _

“I would call it closer to real sleep,” Nines corrected, sitting up in his bed, not minding the warmth of the garage. “How can I help you?”

_ “Shit, they made you  _ need  _ sleep? That’s fucked, sorry man. I have a surprise for you! Would you like to meet up for some Thirium tomorrow? I can give it to you then.” _

“Sure,” Nines said, scrubbing at his face. “You didn’t have to though, North.”

_ “Yes, I did. Sorry for waking you up. Have a good night,” _ and as fast as she was on the line, she was gone. 

Nines had a hard time falling back asleep, the threat of dreams recalling his time as a machine too much to bear. It was his day off, though he wanted with all his being to be working, having had too much down time over the last months. 

Awake for good, he fed and watered Sumo, who was happy for the early morning start. He walked the dog to one of the farther parks, playing fetch as long as the old dog could. He wondered idly what it was that North could have gotten him. It was sweet of her to have thought of him in the first place, Nines worried he should pick up something for her as well. 

_ Just yourself, _ was sent along with an address of a bar within New Jericho’s territory and a time. Well, he had to bring something, right?

“How about flowers?” Hank suggested when Nines talked to him and Connor over breakfast, Sumo fast asleep after his eventful morning. 

“It’s not a date, Hank,” Connor dismissed. “North is a very literal woman. I think bringing something might affront her.”

Nines hadn’t responded past an acknowledging nod, processors stuck on flowers. It did lend itself to dating culture, for which Nines was not trying to date and he was sure North would dismantle him before letting him try and engage her romantically. It didn’t stop him making a short detour in the taxi, buying a single rose. 

He grabbed a table, waving to North when she entered the bar. Eyes drew to the pair, other androids aware of the ongoing cult and Davis investigation, well aware of the changes made to Nines, for which the media pulled no punches in disclosing his personal medical updates. North’s brows raised at the rose on the bar table. 

“I hope that was left there by the last patrons,” she said, eyeing him. 

“I didn’t want to come empty handed and…” he picked up the stem, presenting it to her awkwardly. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not proposing romance. Just wanted to get you a present as well.”

North shook her head with a cocky smile, taking the flower from him. The positive nature raised his dopamine sharply, giving him the ability to return with a sly smile of his own. “You and Connor still have a lot to learn,” she said, taking her seat, finally. “You’re going to give all these androids a reason to add to the rumor mill,” she said, reaching into her pocket. 

“It isn’t like they don’t have any other reason to talk about me,” Nines reminded her, raising his own brows as a small hard drive was placed on the table. “What's on it?”

“Those voice commands?” North said, voice dropping to keep others from trying to listen. “It deactivates them.”

Nines tentatively reached out, grabbing the new code. “When did you have the time, North? Why even do this in the first place?”

“Traci models had many as well,” she said, eyes going distant. “It was one of the first projects me and Josh worked on together, to free them all after the revolution.”

Nines felt something in him break, hearing that. “North, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know those existed.”

She shrugged. “Only the humans really knew. Whole books were published while we were still under their thumbs. The commands they had installed in you were using similar code paths, and were easy to override. We ran every code test we could against it to ensure it wouldn’t hurt you, but I say do it with Connor around so he can call me if need be.”

Nines came around the table, not caring who saw. He grabbed her into a hug, holding her tight. “Thank you,” he said into her hair. “This is one less thing I’ll have to think about.”

North awkwardly patted him on the back. “Don’t thank me till we know it works.”

“I think I owe you every drop of Thirium in the bar,” Nines said, sending in his order. 

North chuckled messing with the stem of the flower. “I don't know about that. It was only a few days worth of work.”

“This,” he held up the stick, returning to his seat. “Is freedom knowing John or Robert can’t turn me off or turn me against my friends while out in public.”

North bobbed her head side to side in agreement. “That’s true. Connor came by the other day, said the feds picked you up?”

Nines tensed. “They did. Said they didn’t have the same restrictions that the DPD did with needing clearance from New Jericho,” he defended. 

North raised her hands. “No need to come at me like that, Nines. I didn’t agree with Markus’ assessments too. It was all arbitrary till I finished that,” she said, eyes dropping to the memory stick. “How is working for them full time, so far?”

Nines relaxed a little. He looked around, assuring himself with a quick scan that a good portion of the interest in them had decreased, the other androids in their vicinity returning to their own conversations. He set his hand on the table, pulling back his synth skin in a quiet ask for a link.

Raising a single brow, North set her own white chassied hand on top of his, allowing the connection. Slowly information flowed from Nines, careful to share only what he wanted and was legally bound to not give to one of the heads of Jericho. 

They separated after a few minutes, North taking a deep breath, keeping her eyes closed as she processed everything at a slower rate. Nines grabbed his delivered Thirium, dropped off while they were connected, taking a sip. 

“Jesus,” North whispered, eyes opening slowly. “I didn’t think the systems changed every little thing that you did.”

It was impossible to not transfer part of his new experience with the memories. Nines peered down into his cup. “It's been hard, but I’m getting used to the changes.”

“You shouldn’t have too,” North bit out. “But,” she conceded, “I’m glad you’re working again. None of you RK’s know how to sit still.”

Nines smirked, taking a calculated sip of his drink. “That is true.”

“So… acid?” North prompted, one of the bits of the investigation he was willing to share. 

He nodded. “But these are androids who pass for humans, like myself,” Nines said. “Minus the obvious LED I won’t be taking off. The brothers are running out of resources, so they must have been early versions they tested before they kidnapped me.”

“But acid?” North said, taking a sip of her drink. “We don’t have any record of that in your systems… were they reset?”

“They are,” he assured. “Looks like now that they are on the run, the brothers can’t risk brainwashed androids with a will of their own being captured or sneaking away and giving us information. A full factory reset solves that problem.”

“I hope those men burn in hell,” North spat, chugging the last of her drink. “I’ll let the others know about this. Thanks for the share.”

“Leaving so soon? People will talk,” Nines couldn’t help but tease.

She scoffed. “Don’t go getting personable on me. I have a meeting that cropped up this morning. We should do this again, though. Remember! Contact me if something goes wrong with the upload.” She grabbed the rose, heading back out.

“Will do. Thank you again, North.”

She saluted him with a wink. Nines stayed in his seat, halfway done with his drink. He was making enough but he was putting almost every penny away to move out. The drink was a luxury he wanted to savor. He was searching for some more housing options when a body slid into what had been North’s seat. 

“Would you be willing to answer a few questions?” The human promptly asked, phone held out in front of himself, recording. 

Nines glared at the man. “No.”

“I only have a few questions.”

“Not interested,” Nines said, tipping the rest of the expensive Thirium back in one go. “Now, if you’ll excuse--”

“Is it true that you went to Gavin Reed’s apartment a few weeks ago?” 

Nines paused, caught off guard. Connor had warned him that Gavin had the media following him since the investigation. They were always trying to capture some new piece of evidence to feed ‘their lovers broken up by the evil scientists’ narrative. 

“Excuse me?”

“You are  _ the _ RK900, right? Did you and Gavin talk everything out? Are you back together?”

Nines called for a taxi in his mind, rounding on the human. “You don’t have the right to ask me that. You have no right into Mister Reed’s life, either. Leave us alone. We want no part of this--”

“Did he say no because of what The Reformers Cult did to you?”

Nines held himself together, his dopamine high crashing as his adrenaline and cortisol sky rocketed. The first instinct was to reach out and punch the young human in the nose, causing a scene. The questioning was a small commotion in itself, androids pausing to listen to his answer. 

“I’m not answering questions,” Nines bit out, turning and walking out the door. The taxi was rounding the corner of the block, Nines sigh of relief cut off as the door slammed open in haste. 

“Wait! One more question!”

Nines fisted his hands, but didn’t respond. 

“Will you be working for the Detroit Police Department again?”

The taxi slid to a stop before Nines who didn’t hesitate in opening and closing the door in the humans face. He slid his hand over the screen of the autonomous vehicle, putting in Hank’s address. The car chimed happily and started on its way. 

Nines breathed through every tear that fell, trying his hardest to not tear off the upholstery of the car, fingers grasping at everything within reach to try and ground him as the emotions rocked violently through him. No one had the right to ask him those personal questions, the audacity of the human to think he could! Nines shouted as loud as he could, taking his own audio processors offline in the process. 

He was a haggard mess when he walked through the door of Hanks home. Connor noticed first, jumping to his feet. 

“Nines?!”

He tried to take a step, to assure Connor he was fine, but staggered. He crumpled into his brother's hold, hands grasping at his shirt. He sobbed against Connor, Hank’s concerned tone soothing, but no words made sense to his processors. The drop of dopamine was the worst he’d ever experienced, the difference murder on his systems.

Nines came back to himself, resting on top of Connor. They were in the garage, both of them laying in his bed. Soothing fingers carded through his hair, relaxing him. 

“Are you back with me?” Connor whispered against the crown of his head. 

“Yeah.”

“What happened?” Connor asked gently. 

“A reporter caught me after the meeting with North,” Connor tensed under him, fingers pausing. “He asked… very invasive questions.”

“You didn’t answer them, right?”

“No. I almost punched him. I held my emotions back and my systems couldn’t handle it.”

Connor shifted, pulling Nines into a proper hug. “I’m so sorry, Nines.”

“Not your fault,” he said, wrapping a single arm back to return the gesture. 

“Feels like it,” he whispered. Nines didn’t have the emotional capacity to unpack that, letting the comment fall between them like a lead weight. “What did North want to talk to you about, anyway?” Connor asked, changing the subject expertly. 

“Oh,” Nines had almost forgotten. He reached into the front pocket of his pants, pulling out the little memory stick. 

“What is that?” Connor asked, grabbing and turning it every which way as he scanned it. 

“It removes the voice commands. She said to have you do it, so if something goes wrong, you can call her. She seemed a little dodgy about it being specifically her and not any of the others.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Connor hedged, wrapping his whole hand around the stick, hiding it from Nines. “Last time we tried to change even a small thing, it didn’t go well.”

“That was hardware,” Nines reminded him, grabbing Connor’s hand holding his patch. “I will try anything to lessen Robert or John's control over me.”

Connor bit his lip. “Ok. Ok. We should go out to the living room, so Hank can be there.”

“Agreed.”

They returned, Hank sitting up, muting the game. “Hey, how are you feeling, kid?”

“Better. Thank you,” Nines rubbed at the hair on his forearm nervously. When had the hair gotten there?

“You sure?” Hank asked, noticing the tick without missing a beat. Connor explained everything to Hank as Nines got himself ready in the arm chair. He was forced to remove his shirt, the whole of his shoulder plating needing to be removed to get to his neck port. He deactivated only what was needed, keeping tight control, self conscious as Connor tensed, seeing the dark chassis. 

“Ready?” Connor asked, hovering right next to Nines with the stick in hand. 

“Always.”

Connor slid the stick into place, the download only a few  megabyte shy of a Gig. He blinked a few times as it settled into his systems. 

“Everything ok?” Connor asked, Nines reaching up and removing the stick himself. 

“I believe so.”

“Want to try a command?” Hank asked, swaying on his feet nervously.

“I think that would be appropriate,” Nines said, sliding the shoulder plate back into place. 

“ RK900, execute vice order,  _ Hubris,”  _ Hank said with no hesitation. 

Nines tensed, waiting for the kill switch to start deactivating his systems by force. Sweet, blissful nothing.

“Try yourself, Connor,” Hank said. “Make sure North didn’t change it to an android only command by accident.”

“Good thinking, Hank. RK900, execute voice order,  _ Hubris.” _

Nothing. Nines felt himself starting to lose against the overwhelming good news. The first he’d had against his own body. He covered his face with his shirt, ashamed as he broke down crying once again. Connor surged forward to hug him, his own tears wetting Nines synthetic skin. 

Hank hugged them both, cradling Nines into his shoulder. “Let it out. It's ok. They don’t have control over you anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At some point, I need to write a Nines/North fic... cause I secretly love the idea of the two of them taking over the world... 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I would consider you a candidate for move in as well,” Nines said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short little chapter to carry us over

“Oh, looking for places?” Geanna asked, catching Nines in the middle of his lunch break. He was using the computer at his designated desk, using the larger bandwidth to search faster. 

“Yeah. Know anywhere that isn’t too bad? Rent had been on the rise with the need of android housing.” Not that he couldn’t eat the difference with his new salary several thousand more than what the DPD could afford to pay him. He was just frugal at heart. 

Geanna cocked a hip. “No one can discriminate, openly at least. So you have that going for you. Ummm… I think there are some programs you can use through New Jericho that can find housing for you?”

Nines clicked his tongue. “I don’t want anyone within Jericho knowing I need the help,” he admitted. North had sent him several links the morning after their visit at the Thirium bar on what the reporter and other speculation columns by fellow androids present had to say about the whole thing. She was upset she missed the chance to jump the young man, but Nines was glad. He didn’t need others thinking he needed his battles fought by someone else, now. 

“Oh, well…” Geanna got uncomfortable again, fiddling with the folder in her hands. “I know everywhere around New Jericho is cheaper as well. Markus has purchased most of the properties to help with the rising costs.”

Nines shrugged. “It’s fine, I’ll keep looking. Thank you, Geanna.”

“No problem,” she said in that crisp fake voice, defaulting to her old programming. 

“What did you do to her?” Jackson, a human technician that was on lend from the newer Android Investigations Department, asked around a bite of his sandwich. The AID was working closely with the Cult specialists, Nines team. Nines didn’t much like the human or his mannerisms, but he was diligent in his work. 

“I’m not sure,” Nines admitted, turning back to his computer to continue his research. 

“If you’re worried about money, you should look into getting a roommate,” Jackson muttered, taking another bite of his lunch. 

Nines paused. “Roommate?”

“Yeah,” Jackson swallowed. “Way cheaper on rent. Might want to vet them through our systems first, make sure they aren’t secretly anti-android or anything, trying to scam you. But if you trust them and like the space? Its company to come home to and bills are cheaper all around.”

Nines narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying that because you need a roommate?”

Jackson scoffed. “I’m sure my wife would love to hear that,” he said, raising his other hand to show off his ring. “I did it back in college and in my twenties before I met her. Made things servivable.”

Nines nodded. “Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll consider it.”

“No probs man,” Jackson turned back around, watching his YouTube video and finishing his meal. 

Nines stopped his search, but ran a processor on the quarry of pros and cons of a roommate, his feelings on it and how bad it could be, for the next few days. He took into account his almost always living with someone since his activation. He moved in with Gavin near the start of their relationship, though he did live by himself at New Jericho for the eight month stretch after being activated by Connor. His moving in with Gavin could have been a ‘bad move’, moving too fast to some, but it had worked for them. After his memory wipe, Connor and Hank had taken him in. 

“I have some reservations about moving out and living by myself,” Nines finally said to Connor, needing someone else to come in on the conversation. 

They were outside with Sumo, Hank out picking up his dinner for the night. Connor’s LED went straight to red, blinking back to blue after a moment. “We are happy to have you as long as you want to stay,” Connor insisted. 

“I don’t want to bother you and Hank any further. What do you think about me living by myself?” Nines pressed. 

Connor’s LED blipped up to yellow and churned there. He stayed quiet, both androids watching Sumo sniff around at the bottom of the stairs, too old to want to go much further. 

“I don’t think it's safe,” Connor whispered, nervously. “From what you’ve said of the investigation… I don’t want them to steal you right out from under us.” 

Nines sighed, feeling some tension he’d been holding in release. “I think so too. I have been thinking more of finding a roommate.”

Connor perked up, “really? Have you met anyone, yet?”

“No. I… wanted your input,” Nines admitted, picking at his five o’clock shadow nervously. “Before I started looking.”

Connor nodded. “I can come with you when you meet the person,” Connor offered. 

Nines gave him a wain smile. “I’m more indestructible than before. I’ll be fine, Connor.”

Connor looked off to the middle distance, Sumo lumbering slowly back up the few stairs of the porch to them, ready to go back inside and away from the oppressive heat. 

“Just an offer.”

*

“Nines!” Kelston called from his office. Nines disconnected from his computer, following through on a lead from a drug dealer the DEA had sent their way, handing the time sensitive work off to Elgan. 

“Yes, sir?” Nines said from the doorway. 

“Come in, come in. Shut the door.”

Nines anxiety spiked, movements going stiff to hide his nerves, still an android at heart, even if he could feel sweat start to bead between his shoulders. He took one of the two uncomfortable chairs sitting before Kelston’s desk. 

“How can I help, sir?”

“It’s fine, Nines. This is not a formal meeting,” Kelston sat back in his chair, bouncing from side to side, trying to get his thoughts straight. “I hear you are looking for a roommate?”

Nines nodded. “Got my first paycheck this last Friday. With the next one, I should be in a place to move in with someone who already owns a place.”

Kelston nodded slowly. “Find any candidates?”

Nines shook his head. “I honestly haven’t started looking yet.”

“Ok.”

Nines narrowed his eyes, taking in his human supriors vital signs. “Why pull me off a lead to ask?”

Kelston’s eyes darted up to him, a deer in the headlights. “No reason! Just wanted to offer the FBI database to check on them before you move in.”

“Jackson said the same thing,” Nines admitted with a smile. “Even if it is a gross misuse of federal information and a breach of privacy.”

“Nothing is private when you move in with someone,” Kelston muttered more to himself than to Nines. “Anyway, go. Get back to work.”

Nine stood, hand hesitating on the door knob. “Yes.”

“Yes?”

“I would consider you a candidate for move in as well,” Nines said, peering over his shoulder to see a light dusting of red spread over Kelston’s cheeks. 

“Oh, that’s not what I--”

“You can’t lie to me, sir,” Nines voice dropped against his will, something in his systems rising to the bait of the human’s reaction. 

Kelston shook himself, focusing back on his monitor. “Get back to work, Agent.”

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir,” Nines said with the smallest hint of sarcasm, leaving back through the door, leaving it ajar. 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Thought you didn’t want me being your maid?” Nines said with a cock sure smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey~ Back on my bullshit!

Connor easily placed the last box in the back of Hank’s old Lincoln. Hank wasn’t far behind, having a harder time with a lighter box.

“What the hell is in all these?” Hank demanded as he practically threw the box into the back seat. 

“Clothes. Shoes. Some personal belongings that I’ve scavenged,” Nines admitted. Thankfully the box Hank was carrying was clothes. Nothing to break. The human huffed, using the car door as a crutch, trying to get his breath back. 

“Why does ‘personal belongings’ sound dirty?” Hank demanded. 

“Cause it is,” Connor said, slamming the trunk closed with the proper level of force. “Come on. Time to go!”

Nines took the back seat without even thinking. 

“Someone gonna tell me where to go?” Hank asked as the gas powered engine roared to life. 

“I don’t know where the roommate lives,” Connor admitted, peering over his shoulder. “Nines has been  _ very _ secretive.”

_ Because you won’t approve, _ Nines said to himself. “He won’t be there. He has work today,” which wasn’t a lie. Kelston was called in to take a look at some found footage from an underground android fighting ring of modified androids with some of Robert’s technology. He’d planned to be away for a short time anyway, to give some semblance of a chance of Connor not blowing up on Nines for his choice. There was a 3% chance that Connor left without knowing who Nines’ roommate was and though he didn’t much care how his brother reacted, it still didn’t sit right with Nines to have Connor mad with him.

They arrived at the high rise apartment complex thirty minutes later, Nines giving Hank directions. It was a newer building, built in the last five years only a short drive from the FBI headquarters. Nines had done a walk of the apartment one night with Kelston before heading home. Where Gavin’s apartment was warm woods and blues, Kelston’s was sleek modern grays, glass and metal. The stark difference was appreciated.

“We used the extra room as an office for my ex,” Kelston had said, rubbing at his nose. “It is obviously empty after everything happened. You can do whatever you want with the space, so please, feel free to look around.”

The apartment had all the normal building code requirements for humans, as all pre-revolution buildings did. There was even a larger surge port for androids to charge with. Kelston turned beet red when Nines inspected it for its integrity. 

“Oh shit, is that ok? I hadn’t even thought about having it removed. I can call the building manager and have it--”

“Kelston,” Nines cut him off, standing. “I’m an android. I still need to be charged.”

Kelston nodded slowly. “Sorry. Fuck, man. Yeah, of course.”

“I will probably spend some time flipping the port into my room. I will handle that with the building manager, see how they would like this resolved. Don’t worry about me. The space is solid and I appreciate your care.”

Kelston wiped his surely sweaty hands on his jeans. “Of course. Would really help with the rent hike. Went up by almost double since the revolution.”

“Of course. I can also compensate you for the deposits you paid.”

Kelston waved him off. “No. The asshole paid all that. No money out of my pocket. Keep it. Buy what furniture you need.”

Nines smiled to himself, recalling the memory perfectly. Kelston outside of work was a very different person. Nervous, unsure of himself. The intricacies of the personality switch was one Nines’ investigative software was interested in picking apart, piece by piece. 

He led them up to the fifteenth floor and down one of the hallways on the left. 

“Apartment 15037,” Nines said, brushing his finger against the high end digital lock on the door. The deadbolt gave way with a loud  _ thunk _ , Nines balancing the box in his arms to push the door open. 

He knew there was no point in distracting either Connor or Hank, walking straight back to what was now his room off to the left. Finally his after signing all the paperwork last night after work. “In here!”

Connor was right behind him, carrying two boxes of his own. Hank was in the living room, meandering around the couch to then come into the room. “Snazzy little place,” he said, dropping the box on the floor carefully. “Have enough money for a bed? Dresser? Any of that stuff? Might be able to find some cheaper stuff so you don’t have to take too much outta your savings.” 

“Yes, Dad,” Nines gave him a smirk, the look of shock of the title hitting Hank harder than Nines meant it to. “Shit, Hank, sorry. That was a bad joke.” 

“No, no,” he waved off Nines, a little winded. “Don’t worry about it. I was coming off a little strong.”

Connor gave Nines a look, practically dragging Hank out of the space and back down to grab the last few boxes. “Go ahead and unpack what you can,” Connor ordered from the door. Nines sighed, knowing he was going to hear about that later from Connor. 

Hank and Connor didn’t linger too long. Nines wasn’t sure if they honestly wanted to give him time to himself in the new space or if it was his misplaced joke. It didn’t matter much. He’d take the win of Connor not finding out about Kelston. 

He used the hangers that Hank had provided, hanging up all his clean clothes in his closet, piling the others that needed to be washed in a corner to be addressed after he’d purchased his own detergent. Busy work for his hands, watching his cortisol lower, serotonin and dopamine rise with the space away from Connor. 

Kelston came in through the front door hours later. Nines had lost track of time, exploring all the nooks and crannies, scanning, listening, taking stock of his new space. He’d retired to the couch, watching something mindless on the large flat screen tv. 

Kelston noticeably deflated coming in. He dropped his suit jacket and keys on the couch, giving Nines a nod. He headed for his bedroom, the entertainment center backed up against the shared wall. 

“The footage show anything?” Nines asked.

“A fucking mess,” his muffled voice came, along with the rustling of clothing. “We should have had you there,” he said, coming out to lean against his door frame. His shirt open to the white wife beater he wore under it, belt unbuckled. He worked at his cufflinks, eyes distant as he remembered. “Android fight rings are already hard enough to look at. But the Davis brothers making money from selling these inventions to make the androids harder to hurt? It’s just fucked. It’s an added layer to this case we didn’t want.”

Nines nodded quietly, taking every measure to assure his eyes didn’t wander down over his superior. They might be living together, but they’d worked out some basic ground rules. 

_ No ogling the boss, _ Nines added quietly to himself. Even if it did raise his dopamine by almost forty points.

“I can take a look when next I come in,” Nines offered.

“I handed the work to Elgan,” Kelston said. “If he can’t find anything, it wouldn’t hurt to have your systems on it.” Kelston turned back into his room, coming back out in a looser shirt and basketball shorts. “I’m heading to the gym. Wanna come?”

“Would be wasted on me,” Nines said with a grin. 

Kelston scoffed. “Shit, that’s right. It's the facial hair, I swear. It makes me forget that you’re an android. See you in an hour.” 

“Have fun,” Nines said, reaching up at the reminder of hair still growing on him. He returned to the mindless program he’d put on. He efficiently pulled all the hair from his chin and left arm before he caught himself. This was new territory, but it wasn’t enough to distract from the habit he’d picked up. He needed something else to do with his hands or his right arm and legs were next. 

An idea popped into his head. Nines got to his feet, walking into the kitchen. He hadn’t been useful in one in a very long time. Pulling up an old recipe that Gavin had liked, he searched around for what he needed. Thankfully, Kelston had just about everything, Nines forced to make some substitutions that shouldn’t be too terrible. 

He worked for nearly forty minutes, the door opening just as he was pulling the chicken from the oven. 

“What smells good?” Kelston asked from the door, shoes squeaking on the hardwood floors. “Nines? Did you cook?”

He put the baking pan on top of the electric coil, removing the heat protector from his hand. Not using one made humans visibly nervous, unable to disconnect Nines being an android to the visual of a hand touching something that was clearly hot. 

“I did. I felt restless. I had to make some modifications to the base recipe, but I hope it is edible.” 

Kelston came up from behind, looking over the food with surprise. “That all looks amazing, Nines. Thank you!”

“I can make a plate, if you want to change?” Nines said, reaching for the cupboard. Kelston’s hand on his wrist stopped him. The touch spiked both serotonin and adrenaline, a combination that Nines wasn’t used to. 

“Nines. Stop,” he ordered, serious. “I can serve myself. The food needs to cool down a little anyway. I didn’t have you move in to do all of this for me.”

“I did it of my own sound mind and body,” Nines assured him, successfully keeping his voice level. 

Kelston shook his head. “No. Don’t, please. I really appreciate it, but you can’t even eat. I can do all of this.”

“I enjoy cooking,” Nines argued, feeling a little pinned in place. Nines was taller than most, but Kelston was taller still. His added few inches made him loom over Nines, trying to get his point across. 

Kelston backed up, realizing how close they were. He ran a hand through his sweaty dirty blond hair. “Yeah… well, kinda feel like an ass now.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Nines muttered, trying to calm his racing Thirium pump. 

“I’ll uh,” Kelston backed up further. “Go get dressed.”

Nines didn’t respond, gaze lingering on the cooling food. Kelston quietly left, the tension in the air dissipating but not disappearing. Nines took his seat back at the couch, flipping through a few different streaming platforms, waiting for the human to make his personal input. He picked at the hair on his right arm idly. 

“Must be nice to consume everything in the blink of an eye,” Kelston muttered, taking a seat next to Nines, plate of food in one hand and a beer in the other. 

“Human entertainment is fascinating,” Nines admitted. “But not really for me.”

“Oh, yeah? Something has to have captured your attention,” Kelston said, grabbing for his beer. 

It was too easy. Crossing over lines be damned, Nines waited for the perfect moment, Kelston taking a sip of his beet, eyes trained on him. “Porn did capture my--”

The human’s eyes widened, ripping the beer from his lips, he doubled over, beer foam going everywhere at the sudden movement. Kelston quickly held the beer away from the cloth couch, starting to cough.

“Holy shit!” Kelston’s gray eyes locked onto his ice blue. “Lines, Nines!”

Nines couldn’t hold it back, he doubled over in laughter. It was the first time since coming back he’d had a reason to do it. He laughed so hard he started to cry, unable to help the function. Kelston couldn’t help the smile in return, though he grumbled through it. He put his plate down to grab paper towels and tried to mitigate some of the worst damage. 

“Missed a spot,” Nines pointed to a darker spot near the human’s knee. 

Kelston dabbed at it. “Should have you clean this up. This is your fault.”

“Thought you didn’t want me being your maid?” Nines said with a cock sure smile. Kelston glared at him, but didn’t respond to the jab, throwing the damp paper product onto the coffee table. He grabbed his plate again, sitting on the damp cloth stubbornly. 

“Want to watch anything in particular?” Nines asked, bringing the tv back out to the main menu. 

“Have been watching Avatar the Last Airbender again, for God only knows how many times,” he admitted. “It should tell you where I left off.”

Nines pulled up Netflix and quickly switched over to the older animation, setting it up and letting it play. They watched a few episodes together, Kelston thanking Nines again for the food before settling in and watching his childhood cartoon.

“This anime is a little before your time,” Nines noted between episodes. 

Kelston was hunched over in a way that made even Nines’ back hurt to look at. He straightened up a little, realizing how he was positioned. Kelston sighed, running his hand through his dry hair. “Yeah. Have an older brother, Teddy. I was kinda an accident, even if my parents insist that isn’t the case. He’s way older than me. Gonna be turning… God, fifty this year?”

“You are only turning thirty eight, correct?”

Kelston gave him a look. “You can easily look that up.”

“My query was for you, not the national database,” Nines smarted back. 

Kelston sighed in an exaggerated way that assured Nines he was being difficult. “Yeah, thirty eight. Twelve year difference. He grew up with this. He introduced it to me when I was old enough to generally understand where my knees and elbows were. It’s one of the larger things we bonded over.” 

“Sweet,” Nines muttered, meaning it. He and Connor didn’t really have happy little moments like that. It felt like all their moments together held attempts to communicate over criminal cases and tears. They were both one of a kinds, beyond Markus himself. The similarity in their facial plating and jobs lent to the use of the brother title and Nines found himself believing it, even now. He did see Connor as a brother, through and through. 

“You and Connor, are kinda brothers, right?” Kelston said, as if reading Nines’ mind.

Nines nodded slowly, sending Connor a short message update to assure him everything was going ok. “We do call each other brother.”

“That’s nice,” Kelston admitted. “He was… was scary, while we were looking for you.”

Nines raised a single eyebrow. Kelston waved a hand in the air. “I mean… you are physically imposing and scary in that way. Not Connor. They didn’t build him for that--”

“No. They built him for integration and to put the humans he was expected to interact with at ease.”

“Exactly! He was calm and charismatic, till he wasn’t. He gets this… set to his brows? Look in his eyes? Whatever you want to call it. It’s terrifying to see it. I would hate to be on the receiving end of it.”

Nines couldn’t help his snort. “Yeah, well, you say dog and point over his shoulder and he’ll break out of it to scan for the canine.”

Kelston barked out a laugh, slapping his knee. “Geeze! Brutal!”

“It’s true,” he insisted, watching the human finish off his single beer. It was almost weird to see only one consumed and not a few. Hank was doing better, but he still had tougher nights than others. 

“Well, I’m heading to bed,” Kelston said, gathering his plate. “Don’t do these. I’ll do them in the morning,” he ordered Nines, looking him in the eye to assure that he was being taken seriously. 

Nines raised his hands in the air. “Of course, sir.”

“Cut that ‘sir’ shit out. I still have two days to terminate your lease and send you back to Connor and the Lieutenant.”

“You like my money too much,” Nines countered, settling into the couch. 

“You gonna sleep on the couch? On the floor?” Kelston asked, hesitating at his doorway. 

“I was thinking the couch for now. I will order a bed soon, don’t worry. I don’t technically need comfort.”

Kelston shivered. “Shit’s still weird. Anyway, have a goodnight!” 

“You too.”

Nines sat back down, leaning back a little, he let his head rest there. He tossed and turned for a while, anxiety still high. His systems were begging for the sleep they needed, but he had to perform the rest of the hair removal. It was a fast hour when he was hairless once again, anxiety calming. He tucked himself back into the couch, slowly shutting down systems, letting the sleep his systems now craved envelope him. 

Androids never technically rested, the same way humans did. Bodily functions slowed but the brain was active, still capable of hearing, digestion, breathing and keeping the heart pumping. Androids on the other hand did mini-defrags of their memories, ensuring that harddrive space was used optimally and ready for the next few days or when next they could stop and enter stasis once more. Their limited mending capabilities kicked in, going to the micro tears walking or running created in closely packed systems. 

Nines worked particularly hard with all the new systems so close together. His chassis was roomerier than most, and it did fit the systems without complicating others but the wear on them forced what had been six hours of rest, up to eight, every night. 

Connor had worried at first, Nines remembered all those months back while he was still the non-deviant android. The machine had answered why it needed more stasis time and Connor had looked gaunt, even if he physically couldn’t, walking away to cry to Hank. 

The memory of Hank coming up to the machine, reaching out to pat him reassuringly on the shoulder despite there being no need, shifted. Hank’s hand reached down to the machine's pants and all his clothes were suddenly gone. 

_ “NINES!” Gavin cried from his left, the sound echoing in the large space. _

_ “He doesn’t know who Nines is,” the modular voice that haunted Nines to this day said confidently from Hank’s mouth. _

_ “He will listen to any orders we give, even at your detriment, Detective--” _

_ “Fuck you!” Gavin shouted, fighting against the chains they locked around his wrists and ankles.  _

_ “He’s almost whole, Detective. What we designed him to be all along,” the modular voice said. The memories warped, the smooth black helmet snapping into place where Hank’s head had been. “Want to experience it so soon?” _

_ “You keep your creepy fucking hands off him!” _

_ The memory shifted again, the machine’s optical units coming online. Nines screamed at the machine he was trapped within, fighting against everything in him at the hand rubbing rhythmically up and down his new genital component. The speeding up of the new more powerful feedback loop peaked against Nines’ will.  _

_ “Oh, look at that, Detective Reed!” _

_ “How fucking dare you--! You freak!” Gavin shouted out in anger against the machine. _

_ The memory warped, Nines knew that wasn’t right. He’d been talking to the masked figure, but the memory’s distortion was hard to wrangle to what had actually happened.  _

_ It twisted, julting Nines forward a few minutes.  _

_ “RK900? Startup  _ Aphrodite _.” _

_ “Don’t do it! NINES!? Do you hear me you fucker?!”  _

_ Nines cried out within the shell of his body, begging to turn around, strangle Robert, save Gavin, take everything they forced him to do back. The memory was unrelenting, shuttering under his spike of stress. He couldn’t hear Gavin anymore as he broke his ankles but his reconstruction software helpfully supplied what the sound must have been, how it would have echoed off the walls. How the bed creaked as he failed to properly prep Gavin and instead mounted him. _

_ Gavin’s head was smashed into the side of the bed, pain written all over his face as Nines started to thrust. The Detective’s lips moved, something the machine hadn’t thought to analyze in the moment.  _

_ Nines software quickly filled in the blank, having never let himself get this far into the memory before. “I love you.” _

_ “Wake up, you fucker! WAKE UP!” _

Nines jolted, hands flying up to the broad shoulders hovering over him. Hands on his shirt, fisted, shaking him. 

“Nines?! Nines, are you awake?!” 

It was Kelston, disheveled from sleep. His eyes were wide, heart rate high, breathing fast. Nines grabbed onto the human, concerned for him. 

“Yes, I’m fine. You’re stressed, what happened?”

Kelston deflated, kneeling down on the floor next to him, taking a few deep breaths. “You were screaming, Nines.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I thought they’d come back,” he admitted into the dark. 

Nines noticed the gun on the coffee table, eyes darting back to the human. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what--”

“It looked like a bad dream,” Kelston said, gray eyes searching his face. “A nightmare. You were calling out for… Gavin.”

Nines tried to recall what he’d been processing before Kelston woke him, but the dream slipped between his preverbal fingers. “I don’t remember…” he admitted. 

“Probably for the best,” Kelston admitted, getting back to his feet. “Try to go back to sleep.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t know I would--”

Kelston’s hand rose sharply. “Don’t worry about it. If you didn’t have nightmares about it, I’d be worried. Let me know if I can help in any way, Nines.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

“Fuck that ‘sir’ shit, Nines,” Kelston muttered, grabbing his gun and returning to his room. “Call me Kel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that Nines finally has a place, we get to see next chapter how Gavin has been holding up!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin sighed. “Look man, I’m not really in the mood for small talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are with a little bit of Christmas angst! 
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> ~***TW: Past abuse***~

Gavin peered up from his case file, what was looking more and more like a murder-suicide of a man and his android partner. “What was that?”

Mel glared at him. “See. This is what I’ve been talking about,” she said, cocking her hip, arms crossed defensively over her chest. 

“What?” Gavin felt slow on the draw. He was sleep deprived, if he was honest with himself. And hungry. Maybe Connor’s naging was worth listening to sometimes… 

“You are always working, Gavin,” she said, waving down to the files. “You should keep work at  _ work _ .”

Gavin felt himself getting angry. This was the same conversation all his past relationships died by. Gavin didn’t pull his punch, “sorry that a double murder is not convinent for you, Mel.”

She huffed angrily. “That’s  _ not _ what I mean and you know it!” 

“Then what the fuck crawled up your ass and died?” Gavin demanded, sitting back. 

“I want you  _ here _ , when you’re here. You are always bringing work home! I want to spend quality time with you but I can’t do that when--” She cut herself off, huffing again. 

Gavin ran a frustrated hand through his hair. They hadn’t even been together a month. How fucking stupid of him to fall back into his old patterns so quickly. Working his jaw open to keep from gnashing his teeth together, Gavin grabbed the file and his overnight bag. 

“I have a grieving mother asking for answers,” Gavin said, grabbing his shoes. “I should have just stayed at the station, you’re right.” Mel sniffled, grabbing Gavin’s attention. “Ah, fuck, babe that’s not--”

“Just go,” Mel said, waving him off. She walked to the back of the apartment and into her room. The door shut softly, worse than slamming in Gavin’s opinion. 

He didn’t hesitate for long, turning back to tying his shoes. He left her apartment key on the little table she left by her door. He was too familiar with the slow degradation of communication and trust that would end things if he didn’t cut it off now. He cursed at himself all the way down to the car and the whole way home. 

Nines never had issues when either of them brought a case home. He did his android thing, giving pointers but never pushing Gavin on his own cases. Made dinner those nights to help Gavin, make sure he ate. Eventually distracted him as the clock turned to midnight with sex and the promise of sleep. 

He couldn’t stimi the tears if he tried, not bothering to hide them as he walked back up to his apartment. He really thought he was past this shit. Dr. Rodriguez's ‘one week at a time’ came to mind, but Gavin was getting really tired of this emotional whiplash. He wanted to be on the other side already. It felt so far on nights like this, in the middle of the emotional storm. What he’d had, how it was turned against him and then properly ripped away. 

Gavin didn’t even bother with the case, going into the room and changing into his workout gear. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep with all this keyed up emotional turmoil. Thank God that the apartment workout room was normally dead so late in the evening. 

Well, normally anyway. There was one other person, a man looking a little younger than Gavin. He was running on the treadmill facing the glass wall made to give the illusion the shitty room was twice as big. They gave each other the head nod, Gavin heading over to the weight machine on the opposite side of the room. 

He set the machine to thirty under his max, sitting and starting with his arms. He was on autopilot, letting his mind wonder. About the case, the cult, the machine, Connor… never keeping any one idea long enough to draw conclusions. Only when the burn in his muscles passed his ability to ignore it did Gavin get up, clean the equipment and move over to the one right next to it. He lay his back on the angled padded seat, planting his feet on the large plate in front of him and started pushing, breathing through the harder part of his workout. 

He was only a set in when a shadow fell over him. “I’ll be done in a minute, man,” Gavin said, not bothering to look up.

“Had a rough night?” The guy said, coming around to lean on the metal skeleton of the machine. 

Gavin sighed. “Look man, I’m not really in the mood for small talk.”

“Then we could skip straight to the fucking part,” he said, eyes lingering on where Gavin’s shorts had ridden up. 

Once more with the emotional whiplash, he was short on the draw. “I’m sorry?”

The man, long black hair tied back into a small ponytail, only a little taller than Gavin himself if Gavin wasn’t mistaken from his prone position, hesitated. “Sorry, I got a vibe that you were--”

“No, no,” Gavin sat up a little. “I am. Just… yeah. Had a rough night. Wasn’t expecting to be hit on, is all.”

The guy didn’t waste time. “I don’t want to come on too hard if you’re in a relationship…?” 

Gavin didn’t have anything to lose. “Fuck it. Yeah, sure.” 

“Damian,” the man introduced himself. 

“Gavin.”

Shaking hands would be weird at this point, so Damian led them into the cramped locker room. “Where did you wanna--?”

“Shower is fine by me,” Gavin said, looking over to the little cubby hole. 

“Sounds good.”

They stripped in record time, taking in one another’s body, both still game. They crowded into the small space, barley large enough for one guy let alone two. Their bodies forced to press together, Gavin groaned at the pressure on his growing erection. Damian grabbed for the water faucet, the hit of cold making both of them hiss in discomfort. Damian reached through the cold spray, grabbing Gavin’s face to smash their lips together for a pretty decent distraction. Gavin moaned into it, Damian doing much the same. 

Gavin slowly backed down, letting the other dominante, slowly starting to turn his brain off. There was nothing quite like a man taking charge over him. Damian’s hands wandered all over Gavin’s body, reaching down and squeezing his ass. 

“Feels like you prefer to bottom?” Damian said, more of a question. 

“Yeah,” Gavin breathed, going in for another kiss. It was hot and sloppy, the water warming, creating steam. 

Damian reached down, grabbing at Gavin, starting to jerk him off. Gavin bent forward, forehead landing on the other man's shoulder. “Oh, fuck.” 

“God, look at you,” Damian whispered in his ear, tugging a little harder. “Bet you’ll feel even better in my mouth.” 

Gavin’s brain lagged with all the blood rushing south, reaching out to the wall across from him as Damian dropped to his knees. Gavin moved so that most of the spray from the shower head hit his back and not Damian. His dark eyes peered up at Gavin, a sly smile stretching his lips before he started licking up and down Gavin’s cock. 

Gavin threw his head back, recalling his hand from its support to bite into the meat of his thumb to keep from getting too loud. Damian eventually pulled back and took Gavin in properly. He looked up, catching mint green eyes as he slowly took Gavin all the way down. Gavin’s hand went from his teeth to soft, thick hair, carding till fingers mingled with the hair tie. Growling in frustration, Gavin worked the tie from the other man's hair, not minding the messy state it left it in. He was going to fuck it up further, constantly running his fingers through the strands. 

Damian hummed around Gavin, Gavin thrusting involuntarily into the vibrations, “oh, FUCK!” He hissed, gathering a fist full of the other's hair. 

Damian tapped his thigh, Gavin quickly letting him go. Damian took two deep lungfuls of air, quickly getting back to work. Gavin smoothly used his fellow gym rat’s mouth as a cock sleeve, the other’s throat tightening when he swallowed. 

Gavin jumped when he felt a wet finger at his ass. 

Damian pulled off, kissing the head of his cock. “Sorry, no lube. Wanted to prep you properly though.”

“Fucking use some lotion or something,” Gavin groused. 

“Don’t carry any down to the gym,” Damian said, licking at the vein on the bottom of the cock in his face. 

“Shit, hold on,” Gavin said, popping his head out from the shower curtain to make sure the coast was still clear. He paid extra for the locker down here, even if he rarely used it, it was a convenience to have a small stash of items for when he was a little too tired to make it upstairs. He quickly unlocked the locker, grabbing the travel sized lotion he’d purchased just in case his hands cracked from weight lifting. 

He darted back into the shower and to the warm hold of a man and running water. Damian was still crouched, stroking his own cock lazily. He wasn’t too large, Gavin had been with larger in his life. “Here,” Gavin offered the little bottle. 

“Thanks. Now, come back here,” Damian ordered, grabbing Gavin by his ass and positioning him back close to where he’d been. Sucking Gavin’s cock back down, the sound of the cap popping open was near deafening. Gavin prepped himself, biting his lip as the probing fingers returned, the lotion warmed from the body heat and steam. 

Gavin relaxed as the first finger found itself fully seated in his ass. He clenched around it, grinning at the groan that got from the man. It was quickly followed by a second and more deepthroating of his cock, distracting from the reminder that Nines was the--

Gavin cut the train of thought off violently, reaching down to Damian and trying his hardest to stay in the moment. The fingers in his ass were hitting his prostate, making his legs tremble and cock throb with the need to cum. Damian pulled off, adding a third finger. 

“You feel close,” he said, lips whispering against the cock once housed in his mouth. 

Gavin couldn’t recall if he’d ever formed a coherent sentence in his life, scrambling for the heat to return to his cock. He needed this. Bad. 

“Shit, you sure?” Damian asked, opening his mouth as Gavin stuffed it back with his cock, not minding the three fingers stretching him comfortably. 

Gavin wasn’t able to hold back the groan, the sound bouncing back as he came down Damian’s throat. The man happily swallowed it, eventually patting Gavin’s thigh to release him. 

“That was a little fast,” Damian admitted quietly. 

“Another. I can go another,” Gavin admitted breathlessly. “Don’t worry.”

“Oh shit, really? You sure are full of surprises,” Damian said with a heart stopping smile. He got to his feet, giving himself a moment to get his bearings. “Turn around, sweetheart.”

“Fuck that sweetheart shit,” Gavin grumbled, pulling at his softening cock to keep it from going completely flaccid. 

“Do you like dirty talk?” Damian asked in his ear, back to chest, he was a little thin for Gavin’s normal type, taking some maneuvering for them to slot together properly. 

“Sure,” Gavin huffed, his cock filling back out again. 

“Great,” he pulled back a little, the flat head of his cock finding Gavin’s ass, slowly swiping up and down to collect and spread some of the lotion there. “God, look at this perfect little ass that I’m going to destroy.”

Gavin groaned, biting into his arm to  _ try _ and hide some of the sound. A hand grabbed his hair, pulling it back. “No, I wanna hear you. Fuck who ever might hear. Let them jerk off to the sound of me fucking this perfect ass of yours.”

The tip of the other cock slowly started to push forward, the burn familiar as he slowly entered into Gavin. Gavin grit through the stretch, his ass not used to the intrusion after so long. Damian groaned in his hair, wet skin sticking together where they met. 

“Oh shit, you’re so fucking tight,” Damian cursed, his forehead falling on Gavin’s shoulder blade. 

Gavin chuckled, “thanks.”

Slowly Damian pulled out and thrust back in, the slight movement sending a twinge of pain up Gavin’s back. The ugly memories tried to pop into Gavin’s mind. 

_ Stay in the moment, Reed. In the moment, in the moment, _ he chanted to himself. Damian didn’t stop, a dry spot on the lip of Gavin’s rim rubbing horribly. 

“Wait a--” Gavin reached back, but Damian’s hand came up and wrapped around his throat. 

“You seem like the type to enjoy this,” his mouth in Gavin’s ear, grabbing his arm and twisting in to rest on his lower back. “Enjoy it, babe.”

The spot pain, coupled with the environment and not being able to breath, it was all too much. The water wasn’t water, it was sweat. The tile of the shower was the dingy wall of a bathroom. The panting in his ear was hot and synthetic, the machine chasing his own pleasure. The pain ratcheted up, the reminder of what he’d gone through the last time he’d had a dick in his ass. 

Gavin struggled, trying everything in his power to buck the machine off him. His ankles weren’t broken this time, he could fight. He turned in the thing’s hold, forcing him off. He slipped on the tile, catching himself on the wall and getting out from under the sweaty machine’s hold. 

“Whoa, hey!” The machine’s voice was lighter and didn't match what Nines’ had been. They’d even changed that!

Gavin grabbed his clothes, rushing from the room. 

“Gavin!?” his name echoing behind him, like the barn they’d kept them in. 

He only paused long enough to put his shorts back on, rushing to the stairs. He ran all the way up. He dropped his keys once, hands shaking so bad he couldn’t find the right one. Once the door was open, he slammed it shut behind him. 

He slid down the door, crumbling in on himself. Gavin wasn’t sure how long he lay at his front door, crying and shivering. Alone, like all the time he’d spent with the machine. Slowly, Gavin came back to himself, the spell broken. He was safe and in his apartment. 

That was the worst mistake he could have made. He lay on his side, trying to catch his breath, keeping his eyes open to remind himself that he was safe. Alone. 

Gavin fell asleep there, too emotionally and physically exhausted to dry himself off properly and get into bed. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team's leads officially dried up about a week ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey~ I hope the holidays were good to everyone! 
> 
> Only one chapter to go before moving on to part two of Part 2!
> 
> Enjoy!

Nines sat at the front of the large office space with the team on either side of him. Each new human or android entering the space found him first, eyes lingering before kindly moving to the rest of the Reformers Cult team. 

The room was packed to the brim when Kelston stood, taking his place behind the podium. No chairs were available. Men, women and androids lined the room, no one wishing to miss the importance of this meeting. The Reformers Cult was one of the agency's largest cases and the team was holding this meeting for only one reason. They weren’t making headway, and needed to pool the agency's minds together for a quick brainstorming session. 

The team's leads officially dried up about a week ago. Every small lead from other teams were dead ends or already explored with no better luck. The brothers had gone into hiding after their CyberLife store thief stunt over a month ago now. The lack of activity made Nines nervous. 

“Thank you to everyone who could make it here today,” Kelston opened up. He introduced himself and each member of the cult team. He then moved to the slide show of all their evidence and many of Nines’ working theories as to why, no matter what they did, the Davis brothers were three steps ahead of them.

“One,” Kelston numbered, “is that they have access to Nines himself.” The room as one turned to look at him, uneasy. “Nines has run many different diagnostics on himself and Jackson, a member on loan to us from the Android Investigative Division, has done additional testing. We believe this to be inconclusive.”

“Two,” Kelston switched to the next slide, “is having a mole inside the agency.” Once again, eyes turned to the team. Nines wasn’t surprised to see those eyes then move into the crowd themselves, trying to feel out who among them might be a rat. “I have had one of my own members do extensive background checks on any one we have been interacting with and even outside our own team. I’m glad to report that we have yet to find anything.” The room noticeably relaxed.

“Three,” Kelston switched the slides and slowly laid the remote down on the podium, letting the room take in what was written on the slide. “Our current working theory is that the Davis brothers are being protected by someone even above us.” 

The room got very still. 

“We have tried to contact both the CIA and Homeland Security to try and dispute these ideas, but they have shut down all inquiries and want nothing to do with us. This isn’t our normal working relationship, even when tensions between the agencies are high, direct questions aren’t slapped out of the air and refused.

“We bring everyone here today, with the working idea that either the CIA or Homeland Security are taking an active part of the Davis brothers running and developing these androids to be as human as possible for them. They don’t want to be dragged into the spotlight, despite the mass number of human lives the Davis’ have taken. We won’t ask them too, then. So, do we have any ideas on what we might be able to do to take them down?”

The crazy idea had hit Nines’ processors while he was in the middle of sassis. It made sense that either the CIA or Homeland Security were in bed with the Davis’. They had the resources to make getting to the brothers extremely difficult. Could pull them out from any tough spots they found themselves in and cover both physical and digital tracks. All in the name of getting more advanced technology. 

Namly Nines. 

Nines was the only one of the ordered two hundred and fifty thousands RK900’s New Jericho found completed. If they wanted a return on their investment, namely, Nines getting the brothers to complete Robert’s work, then Nines had no doubt they were going to use it. 

“Why not go to the media with this information?” A young woman, an android, said from the middle of the room. “Force their hands?”

Nines stood, nervously fixing the cuffs of his jacket. “Our biggest obstacle is lack of evidence. We don’t want to burn a bridge between the cult team and the intelligence community. Two, bringing other agency involvement into the media narrative will only further break down android trust with the American government and incite mass fear from New Jericho. Even though the Davis brothers have started this Reformers Cult to pull older model androids into their ranks, that isn’t their end goal. It’s simply Robert Davis experimenting with his new technology. I am his end goal.”

“What if you were to set up support groups for androids at risk of leaving to the Reformers Cult?” A man offered. “A quiet way of supporting them while taking the experimental capacity away from the Davis’?”

“Android support groups are handled directly by one of the leaders of New Jericho. We would have to go through him to get permission for a proper group and we have strict orders to not interact with the New Jericho leadership in an official capacity in regards to the case.”

“Is telling the New Jericho leadership of the threats their androids are becoming to the population a bad thing?”

Nines hid his sigh. “These aren’t wayward androids, or automatons lost in their code. The androids we’ve profiled willingly joining the Davis’ brother’s, join because they never wanted to be free or have nothing left and wish to go back to the old ways. Their sentiment might come from different places of reason, but their want to return to being non-deviant androids is the same and the Davis brothers exploit it for their own gain.”

The man shrugged. “Humans have to make those same choices. Can’t save them all.”

Nines’ adrenaline spiked, biting back his first choice of response. The man obviously wasn’t here to help, he just wanted to watch the show. It angered Nines to see that the man wasn’t alone. This must look like a three ring circus to the other internal teams but this was a serious matter. 

Nines opted for his system's second response choice. “Yes, which is why we all have jobs.”

The man scowled, angrily crossing his arms over his chest, eyes shifting off to the side. He ignored Kelston’s glare of warning. The man deserved it. This meeting was held for constructive help, not to be a show of deviant androids unsuccessfully running after androids who wished to revert. 

“The different departments can start doing some digging into our own current cases,” an android man said, eyes distant as he worked through his train of thought. “It wouldn’t be more then what we are already doing at Special Agent Kelston’s request, but now that we know what you are looking for we can start searching for the other agency’s finger prints.”

Others in the room muttered in agreement. It wasn’t much, far less then what Nines was hoping for, but it was something. 

“Thank you for your continued cooperation,” Kelston said with a wave to the room, people and androids filing out slowly. He turned back to his team, huddled together on the stage. “Well, that was as close to useless as I could imagine.”

“Hopefully my more outlandish idea caught their attention,” Nines said. “It's still less than ten percent chance that either the CIA or Homeland Security are involved in this. It’s better than nothing if it means capturing the brothers.”

Geanna placed a warm comforting hand on his arm, “don’t worry, Nines. Things will work out and we’ll catch them both.”

Nines gave her a weak smile, the probability of her attitude towards him becoming more agreeable increased at the top right of his HUD. “Yes, eventually.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was nearly two weeks at least, Gavin lost count of days with his insomnia back in full force, when he ran into the new neighbour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, bringing part one of Part 2 to a close. Part two will be up shortly, I hate to make y'all wait when it's finished. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy the closing to this part!

Gavin was having a hard time listening to Alex, the DA he and Nines had worked with back before Robert Davis struck a deal to avoid jail . How wonderfully that worked, huh? The last few days had been hard on him. He wasn’t really sleeping and the nightmares were back. He’d missed his last two appointments with the doc since he and Mel still weren’t on good terms and he didn’t think he could see her right now. 

“Gavin?” 

He perked up a little. “Sorry,” he rubbed at his nose nervously, “mind wandered.”

“You’re fine,” Alex assured, looking down at the paper. “I was saying that we are near the end of litigation now. Which means the trial is going to start soon. Do you have any stipulations? We can keep you from seeing the defendants and a few other--”

“No. I don’t want any of that,” Gavin said. “I’ll be fine.”

She nodded, turning the paper back around and putting it back in with all the others splayed out on the desk. 

“I want to assure you, the case is solid. They will all be going away for a  _ very _ long time.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Gavin said, rubbing at his temple. 

“You ok? Need anything? Water?”

“No. Sleep is being a little elusive right now, just need to try and catch it.”

“Well, I won’t keep you then. Thank you for coming down today. I’ll stay in contact with you through email or text, like normal.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Gavin grabbed his wallet and keys, shaking her hand. “Have a great day.”

“You too.”

Gavin didn’t remember the drive back home. He came to in a parking spot, neck with a crick as he picked it up from the awkward angle it’d been in. 

“Jesus, fuck me,” Gavin groused, turning the car off. 

A few people passing by caught his attention. They were carrying boxes, talking to one another. Another set of people followed, all four clearly a family helping one another. They disappeared into his complex, Gavin rubbing as his short beard. 

He followed them up after a few minutes, noticing the apartment door across from his open and those same four people in there, talking happily. Not wanting to creep, he went for his keys. 

“Oh, look hun! A neighbour!” An older woman’s voice said from inside the apartment. Gavin peered over his shoulder. “He’s cute!” She stage whispered. 

A younger woman peeked out, eyes going wide before she ducked back and out of sight. “Mom!” She hissed back. “Shut up!”

From what he’d seen in that moment, she wasn’t too bad either. Beautiful caramel skin and dark curly hair. Maybe he’d shoot his shot some other time, when he didn’t feel like actual death. He opened and closed the door behind him, smiling to himself as mother and daughter near shouted at each other about him. 

He’d come to terms with the fact he couldn’t be with men anymore, so having a cute neighbor across the hall would be another good distraction. Anything to take his mind off how shitty a turn things had taken. 

He collapsed into bed, letting sleep consume him. Hopefully he’d be ready for work tomorrow and Connor wouldn’t have a reason to chew his ass out. The android now had a one track mission to make Gavin’s life a living hell. He wasn’t sure what had changed, but Connor pushed him like Gavin was an android. If Connor wasn’t handed perfection, Gavin’s ass was being grilled for it. 

Not that Gavin took it laying down, fighting back just as viciously with his words. Hank was forced to sit them down in a room before their weekend to tell them two of them to either kiss and make up or he and Fowler were going to be forced to break them up as a working partner pair. Their arguing had come up in other meetings and was ‘bringing down morale’. 

“Nines moved out almost a month ago,” Connor finally admitted after a solid twenty minutes of Gavin pestering him the next day after the meeting. 

He clammed up at the mention of his dead ex. “Oh.”

“I didn’t have a chance to properly scan the apartment. I don’t know who his roommate is, and he dodges all the questions I ask about--”

Gavin shook his head, interrupting Connor. “Sorry, Con. I know you have concerns about… it… but can we not talk about it?”

Connor’s LED was red, his eyes watery and full of that kind of understanding that only came from experience. Gavin bit back his heated retort on where Connor could stuff that sentiment and accepted the back rub Connor gave him. Solidarity at its finest. 

It was nearly two weeks at least, Gavin lost count of days with his insomnia back in full force, when he ran into the new neighbour. She was trying to juggle a pizza in one hand, what looked like a bag of milk, mail and her keys to open her door. 

“Need help?” Gavin asked, pausing in front of his own door. 

She blushed, both knowing what had happened the last they’d seen one another and her rather prone position. “No, no, I’m fine. Thanks.”

“I’m a cop, you don’t have to worry about anything,” Gavin said, pulling his jacket back to flash the badge he kept on his hip. Her gaze dropped for a moment, inspecting the gold plated badge. 

“They mentioned you,” she said. “When we were looking at the building. That a few officers live in the space.”

“Give us cheaper rent, so it's a nice deal,” Gavin admitted. “Also the fact that they haven’t updated to digital is a nice touch.”

She laughed, her keys jingling again. “Yeah, until this happens.”

“Offer still stands,” he said, unlocking his own door to show he was more than capable of the simple task. 

She sighed. “Yeah. Yes, thank you.” She handed him the keys awkwardly, the bag of milk swinging from side to side and taking her arm with it. He nabbed the keys without touching her, quickly finding the familiar key and unlocked the door for her. He left the key in her door, opening it for her. He held it, giving her the chance to slip in. He closed the door softly, waiting across the hall for her to come back and retrieve them. 

“I’m Gavin,” he offered, probably a little late in the process. “Gavin Reed.”

She grabbed her keys, a soft smile on her own lips. “Arianna. Nice to meet you, Officer Reed.”

“Detective,” he corrected, feeling like an ass the moment it slipped from his lips. 

Arianna rose a single brow. “Oh? Detective, now?”

“Have been,” he said, feeling himself go red. “That all came out wrong, I’m sorry.”

She chuckled, holding onto her door, most of her body still hidden behind it. “No worries, Detective. Thank you for the help. Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.”

*

“Going on a date?” Hank asked as he passed by Gavin, getting his things ready to leave. 

“Fuck off, Anderson,” he muttered, glancing at Connor to assure him he didn’t really mean it. The android didn’t seem to be glaring at him for that though, eyes assessing what it was Gavin was wearing. 

“Are you?” Connor asked, as if he hadn’t noticed the polo and slacks Gavin was wearing all day. 

“Yeah,” Gavin admitted. “Woman moved in across the hall. Been talking to her on and off for about a month now. She finally goaded me into a date. We’ll see how this goes.”

“Probably like your last one,” Connor muttered. He’d clearly meant for it to be too low for Gavin to catch, but the bullpen went quiet in just that moment. Connor’s LED flipped to red, realizing his mistake as Gavin glared down at him. 

“Real fucking mature, Connor,” Gavin flipped him off all the way to the end of the pen. 

Connor was clearly working with an agenda, ultimate goal of getting Gavin and the machine back together. Gavin gave Connor one chance, that first meeting almost four months ago now. Its spectacular failure only made Connor sneaky with the good news he fed Gavin about the machine. Connor’s obvious distaste for any mention of new romantic partners was grating, annoying and sat under Gavin’s skin and festered. He couldn’t ignore the relationship’s with both Connor and Hank built over the time of their care of him. Connor ignoring his wishes hurt something quiet and vulnerable in Gavin. 

Ignoring the androids snide remark, he started up the car, inputting the restaurant he and Arianna had agreed to meet at. 

Ari[6:21pm]:  _ Here. Got us a table, on the right when you walk in. _

Gavin smiled to himself. He loved a woman that didn’t wait, took charge and did simple things without needing him to lead the whole time. He was sitting at the table ten minutes later. 

“Shit, sorry about the wait,” Gavin huffed, grabbing at the menu. “Traffic and shit.”

Arianna sat patiently, an understanding smile on her lips. “Don’t worry about it, we did say six thirty. I was early.”

“I know, still,” he muttered, sipping at the water she’d ordered for him. “How was work?”

She rolled her eyes. “Boss is kinda a dick,” she admitted. 

Gavin raised a brow. “Can you elaborate?” 

She rolled the paper from the straw between her fingers. “Not too much, secret project and all that,” she went quiet, trying to gather her thoughts. Gavin gave her the time. “He’s just… micromanaging everything! Like, dude, I know what the hell I’m doing. You hired me for a reason,” she crunched the paper in her hands in frustration. “I swear that man is going to drive me to the crazy house.”

“You're still working on those android parts?” He asked, remembering one of the living room conversations from last week when they got down to the more personal details of their work. 

“Yeah, with oversight from New Jericho. My boss isn’t an android but still, it's just annoying. I’d happily have an android lead the team than him, at this point. It also kinda sucks cause it’s really only me he manages. So there isn’t anyone to distract or turn his attention away from me.”

“Sorry to hear that,” he said, laying his hand flat against the table. She shifted the paper to one hand, taking his hand in hers. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, admiring how soft her skin was. “Fuck him.”

“Fuck him,” she agreed, bursting out into giggles. “Not literally, but with a cactus or something.”

“Oof,” Gavin tightened his hold on her hand. “ _ That _ bad?”

She gave him a deadpan look. “Seriously, I can’t stress enough how he is breathing down my neck every hour of the day that someone isn’t distracting him with another proverbial fire.”

“Sometimes feels like Connor,” he muttered. 

“That’s your partner, right?” 

He nodded. “Yeah. Feels like he’s on my dick all the time about some old shit that I just… want to be past at this point. He’s like a walking reminder.”

Arianna squeezed his hand this time, her head tilting to the side in concern. “Everything ok?” She asked quietly.

Gavin waved a hand between them to rid the air of her misplaced empathy. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Again, just want to be past it.”

She nodded, eyes lingering to assure him that though this was fragile and new, she was there for him. He returned the squeeze. 

They ate dinner and the conversation drifted away from work. Gavin invited her to his place and they had a late night cup of coffee, holding out for just another few hours together. Arianna eventually called it a night, kissing Gavin on her way out. It was sweet, chaste. He watched her with hooded eyes as she unlocked her door, hovering in her doorway with a sugary little smile on her lips. She bit her bottom lip, Gavin’s eyes darting down to it. 

“Goodnight, Mister Reed,” she said, giving him a wink. 

“Goodnight, Miss Gonzales,” he bid. 

*

They still talked, now official and together, it was a sweet and sassy start. Arianna could take and throw back Gavin’s sarcasm better than most. She was laid back but stood up for what she believed in, a combination he was grateful for. 

It was three days after their first date. Gavin -- still awake despite the half empty cup of calming tea, humidifier and calming jazz music playing low on his speakers -- heard the light rap on his front door. It was shy, as if hoping he wasn’t awake. He sat up, wondering if it was even his door. It was one in the morning, after all. It was just quiet enough to be for someone else down the hall. 

It came again, a little louder this time. He got up, looking through the peephole to see Arianna starting to enter back into her own door. He ripped his door open, just catching her. 

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked. 

“Hey,” she opened her door a little wider, rubbing at her arms. “I umm…” she was clearly upset. “I just wanted someone to talk to. I wasn’t sure if you would be awake?”

“I’m here,” Gavin insisted, walking out from his place to grab at her, pulling her into a tight hug. “What’s up?”

“My boss is an ass,” she mumbled. “Having me work late just to meet his stupid fucking deadline.”

“Do you need to talk it out?” He asked, knowing it helped some people to just verbalize the problem. 

“If you wouldn’t mind?” She said, brown eyes big and pleading. 

“Yeah, of course! I don’t have work tomorrow, so don’t worry about me. Give me a moment,” he turned back for his place. He locked it up, returning to Arianna’s to take a seat on her far more comfy couch. “Ok, lay it on me.”

Arianna took a deep breath before throwing android jargon and words five syllables long at Gavin, who tried his hardest to keep up. It was 1am and he hadn’t slept properly since their date. Arianna was mid way through a particularly hard sentence for Gavin to understand when a light bulb seemed to go off. 

“Oh! Of course!” She turned back to her computer, typing away frantically to keep from losing the idea. “Need to test the edge cases around--” she cut herself off, typing away.

“Glad I could help,” Gavin said, pinching at his nose to try and keep himself awake.

“You can sleep there, if you’re tired,” Arianna mumbled quietly, waking Gavin. He hadn’t realized he’d started to nod off.

“No, no, I don’t want to bother you while you’re working,” Gavin said. “I’ll get up in a minute.”

Arianna snorted. “You might be a small distraction, but it’s nice… not being alone.”

“Here, here,” Gavin muttered. “You sure? You don’t mind?”

“I offered. I obviously don’t care,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

“Ok, ok. Don’t have to force me,” Gavin laid down properly on the couch, trying to keep his eyes open as Arianna returned to typing, knees scrunched up to her chest, feet flat on the computer chair. He slowly drifted to the patter of key clicks and a comfortable presence in the form of a fellow human. 

Gavin woke slowly, curling around the source of warmth against his side. He nuzzled into curly hair, comforted by the weight of an arm on his chest. Arianna curled a little closer herself, nearly off the couch with Gavin laying flat and taking up all the space. He steadied Arianna, maneuvering himself around to lay on his side to make more space for her. She stirred, only to move closer and off the edge. Gavin hugged her close. 

They didn’t start out as fuck bodies, like so many of Gavin’s past relationships had that crashed and burned. There was only one other long term relationship before Nines that almost ended in Gavin proposing to the girl, only for his job to get the better of them and ultimately cause the collapse. 

He dozed on and off, feeling every shift of his partner, feeling her breathing against him in a beautifully rhythmic way that really only came when sleeping. He was woken by a shift, larger than the others. He blinked himself awake just as lips were placed on his. It wasn’t their first, but it was tinged with an edge Gavin wasn’t sure he was comfortable with. 

“Hey, hey,” he pulled Arianna back by her shoulders. “Hey, good morning.”

She gave him a look, quickly covering it with a smile. “Good morning.”

“Figure everything out for that asshole boss of yours?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. I have my work cut out for me but he can’t keep working me up till five in the morning and then expect me back bright eyed and bushy tailed at eight.” 

Gavin shifted, avoiding her next kiss. “Oh, well I should let you get to that,” he said, starting to get to his feet. 

Arianna grabbed his wrist, trapping him. “Gavin? Are you ok? It feels like you’re running. Did I do something?”

Gavin took a deep breath, taking a seat. “Kinda… a heavy topic,” he whispered. The panic of his last sexual excursion burned on his tongue. He knew he didn’t have to worry about Ari but the memory of his triggered panic attack still lingered. 

“Does it have anything to do with your job?” She asked, sitting next to him. Close, but not touching. Reassuring without smothering. 

“Kinda? More of my last serious relationship.”

Arianna stayed quiet. 

“I’m Bi,” he started with. “It was a man. An android. My work partner, till these fucked up pair of brothers got into the middle of everything.” And Gavin spent the next forty minutes dumping his heart out. He told Arianna stuff that Dr. Rodriguez would kill to hear him say. 

“So after breaking up with her, I came back and went to the gym. This guy came onto me and we tried to hook up in the shower and--”

“Oh no!” Arianna gasped, knowing already where this was going. There were tears in her eyes.

Gavin snorted to himself, trying to deflect a little. “Yeah. Wish I knew at the time. Ran out of there like a little bitch.”

“Fuck that,” Arianna shuffled forward, touching Gavin for the first time. She pulled his head down to her shoulder, carding her fingers through his hair. “No. You’re trying too hard to move on. Your therapist is right. You will have good and bad days, Gavin. Stop trying to push yourself. You need to let yourself fail and come back stronger for it.”

Gavin held her in return, letting her words wash over him. Her gentle understanding a soothing balm on his still raw emotions. He was sure if he’d told Melissa all this, she would have run for the hills. Arianna was a rock in the tumultuous sea of his emotions. 

He didn’t cry, just let himself be held in kind arms. He’d done all his crying over the covered topics and he refused to cry again against Arianna. 

“You ok?” She asked after a few minutes. Gavin nodded. “Cause I do actually need to get back to work. I’m sorry.”

Gavin chuckled against her, pulling back and kissing her this time. “Is this what it feels like? Dating a workaholic?” 

Arianna threw her head back, laughing. “Oh God, you have no idea.”

Gavin thinks he did. It was nice to find another like him. Hopefully it wouldn’t affect the growing relationship when both of them were busy. As long as they found a balance, things should work themselves out. His and Nines’ relationship was proof of that.

“You are welcome to stay, but I’ll be at my desk,” Arianna said, heading for the bedroom to change. 

“Think I’ll head back to my place, do a few chores. I’ll come back later, for sure.”

“Sounds good! See you soon!”

“Bye!”

Gavin stood in the middle of his apartment, fisting and unclenching his hands, trying to figure out how to get everything done as quickly as possible to get back to Ari’s place faster. He smiled to himself, feeling the little bubble of emotions bob in his chest. 

He had a really good feeling about Arianna. 


End file.
